Roger Federer will continue his Basel campaign on Wednesday against Denis Istomin. Grigor Dimitrov and Radek Stepanek are set to contest a first-round match.
Denis Istomin vs. (3) Roger Federer
Federer and Istomin will be going head-to-head for the fourth time in their careers when they do battle in round two of the Swiss Indoors Basel on Wednesday. All four of the previous encounters have gone Federer’s way and he has never even lost a single set to his opponent. The Swiss’ third hard-court win over Istomin came earlier this season in Indian Wells via a 6-2, 6-3 decision.
The 2013 campaign has obviously been a disappointing one for Federer, but he should be inspired with World Tour Finals qualification at stake at a hometown event he has won five times. He opened on Monday with a 6-4, 6-2 rout of Adrian Mannarino. Istomin booked his spot in the last 16 by dismissing Horacio Zeballos 7-5, 7-6(3) on Tuesday. The 48th-ranked Uzbek is a solid 32-28 for the year. Istomin likely won’t be facing Federer at his very best, but it’s hard to expect at this particular tournament that the No. 3 seed drops a set in this matchup for the first time.
Pick: Federer in 2 losing more than 8 games
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(8) Grigor Dimitrov vs. Radek Stepanek
Dimitrov is coming off the first ATP title of his career, won last week in Stockholm–where he beat David Ferrer in Sunday’s title match. The 22-year-old Bulgarian, under the direction of new head coach Roger Rasheed, is up to a career-high ranking of No. 22 in the world. Sustaining success, though, has always been an issue. Consider this season alone: Dimitrov finished runner-up in Brisbane then lost in the Sydney first round. He reached the Monte-Carlo quarterfinals then dropped his opener in Barcelona. He advanced to the quarters in Washington then fell in the Montreal opening round. He won two matches in Cincinnati then lost right away at the U.S. Open.
At the other end of the career spectrum, the 34-year-old Stepanek is still going relatively strong. He registers at 45th in the world after a quarterfinal run last week in Vienna, where he succumbed to eventual champion Tommy Haas in a competitive two-setter. Stepanek is 13-1 since the U.S. Open (2-1 ATP, 10-0 Challenger, 1-0 Davis Cup). As those results suggest, the veteran is extremely dangerous on indoor hard courts thanks to his aggressive style of play. All of those factors will be a major problem for Dimitrov, who is forced to make a quick turnaround after an emotional week in Stockholm.
Pick: Stepanek in 2
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