Grigor Dimitrov will be looking to maintain his fine form when he takes the court against Gilles Muller on Tuesday in Basel. David Goffin is also in first-round action, with London on his mind against Marcos Baghdatis.
(6) Grigor Dimitrov vs. Gilles Muller
Dimitrov and Muller will be squaring off for the fifth time in their careers when they clash in round one of the Swiss Indoors Basel on Tuesday. The head-to-head series stands at two wins apiece, with Dimitrov most recently prevailing 6-2, 7-6(4) earlier this season on the hard courts of Sydney. Their only previous hard-court encounter had come last year at the indoor event in Rotterdam, where Muller got the job done 6-2, 7-6(8).
The 2016 campaign started of slow for Dimitrov, but the second half has been outstanding. Positive results for the 18th-ranked Bulgarian include a quarterfinal showing in Toronto, a semifinal performance in Cincinnati, and a fourth-round finish at the U.S. Open. His fall swing is already highlighted by semifinal appearances in Chengdu and Stockholm in addition to a trip to the title match a few weeks ago in Beijing. Muller turned in consecutive quarterfinal showings in Metz and Tokyo but he is coming off a first-round exit in Stockholm at the hands of Dustin Brown. The 37th-ranked Luxembourgian would have a chance on a faster hard court than that of Basel, but Dimitrov’s clear edge in current form should rule the day.
Pick: Dimitrov in 2
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(5) David Goffin vs. Marcos Baghdatis
Goffin’s chances of qualifying for the World Tour Finals took a hit when he lost from match point up against Diego Schwartzman in last week’s Antwerp semifinals. The good news for the 11th-ranked Belgian, however, is that Tomas Berdych lost his Vienna opener to Nikoloz Basilashvili on Monday. Goffin, who is 190 points behind Berdych in the race for the final spot, is 47-22 for the season and 9-3 in his last three tournaments.
Up next for Basel’s fifth seed on Tuesday is a sixth career contest against Baghdatis, who leads the head-to-head series 4-1. They most recently faced each other earlier this season on the indoor hard courts of Rotterdam, where Baghdatis won 6-1, 5-7, 7-6(5). Whereas Goffin is in the running for London, the 36th-ranked Cypriot is in contention for a seed at the 2017 Australian Open. He is a decent 25-21 for the year and coming off an opening-round loss to Kevin Anderson in Stockholm. Goffin clearly felt the pressure of playing at home in Belgium last week, but he should feel more comfortable in Basel–where he reached the final in 2014 and the quarters in 2015 and has never lost to anyone other than Roger Federer.
Pick: Goffin in 2
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Goffin in two and muller in three
Goffin and Dimitrov in 3, whenever I back Dimi to win, he loses so im not sure here
Muller in 3 haha!
Goffin should beat Baggy, but next round he’ll probably run into JMDP, who qualifies as hot in my book. We’ll see…
Berdy lost his first round match today. I’m beginning to wonder if Rafa will actually qualify for the WTF w/o winning a match in the post-USO season. Thiem should manage to pass him to take the 7th slot. The other contenders are going to need a good run in Bercy.
Rafa dropped out already
Thiem has to get to final at least in Vienna to gain any point(as he already has full 6 250/500 countable events), failing that he has to reach QF of Paris Masters to overtake Rafa. If not then he has to qualify for WTF, win at least a match, to overtake Rafa.
Ramara;
Rafa won’t drop out of the Top 8 in the Race this week. Five players can overtake Rafa during the Paris Masters.
Live Race:
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Goffin has had some major lapses in ability that I’ve seen this past year or so and they’ve lasted weeks at a time … his performance recently where he lost in the finals vs Murray looked light years ahead of his semis loss to an in-form Schwartzman … my main concern here is that Goffin may be on one of his downswings and against an opponent who leads the H2H record and is feeling confident … also DAMNIT POUILLE