Familiar foes Juan Martin Del Potro and Marcos Baghdatis will be facing each other again on Thursday in Basel. Vasek Pospisil is set to go up against big-serving Ivo Karlovic.
(1) Juan Martin Del Potro vs. Marcos Baghdatis
Baghdatis and Del Potro will be squaring off for the sixth time in their careers and for the third time this season when they do battle in round two of the Swiss Indoors Basel on Thursday. Del Potro leads the head-to-head series 3-2 (all on hard courts) after winning both of their previous 2013 encounters. The Argentine prevailed 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) and 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 earlier this fall in Tokyo.
An indoor setting may be slightly more advantageous to Del Potro, who has already captured one such 500-point title this season–in Rotterdam without dropping a single set. The world No. 5, a champion in Tokyo and runner-up in Shanghai, advanced on Wednesday with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Henri Laaksonen. Baghdatis is 15-21 for the year and dangerously close to plummeting out of the Top 100 at 97th in the world. The Cypriot has accounted himself well in this matchup in the past so it’s hard to expect a blowout, but the discrepancy in current form and the surface do not point to Baghdatis taking a set this time around.
Pick: Del Potro in 2
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Vasek Pospisil vs. Ivo Karlovic
Pospisil and Karlovic will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers on Thursday. Their only prior meeting came this summer on the grass courts of Newport, where Karlovic advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 victory. The 34-year-old Croat booked his spot in the Basel second round by upsetting Tomas Berdych 4-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(2) on Tuesday. Karlovic is 15-12 for the season and coming off a semifinal showing in Moscow.
Pospisil’s breakout 2013 campaign has stalled just a bit mainly due to a continued inability to win tiebreakers. Interestingly, he has now faced a man with the same problems in two straight weeks. Pospisil lost to Robin Haase in the Vienna second round but defeated Haase 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday in Basel. The 23-year-old Canadian is 15-16 at the ATP level this season and up to No. 40 in the world. This is a brutal surface on which to face Karlovic and Pospisil’s struggles in tiebreakers are almost sure to haunt him in this kind of matchup.
Pick: Karlovic in 3
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The Basle preferential draw and scheduling is a microcosm of why I could never warm up to Federer. Too much preferential treatment and fawning.
I like Popsicle and would like to see him advance but he’d have little chance against Fed’s ego (Stakhovsky’s terminology). If he does get past Ivo, would be fun to see how much he has learned since Fed beat him in their one meeting in Montreal two years ago.
As I said yesterday, not a fan of Dr. Ivo but I’d love to see him serve his way boringly to a title on the fast indoor Basle court.
#AcesFull
1st set to Vashy.
Tennis-X has me on a 12-24 hour delay now. They like to beat their Rafans into submission or just make them not want to post anymore. Always wondered why the Rafans over there had little edge (unlike the Fed fans).
I’ve done no swearing, no personal attacks on other posters, not even direct criticism of Fed himself. But Rafa as GOAT or draw/scheduling conspiracies are simply not tolerated even though claims that Rafa is doping is fair game.
Maybe Scrotum has undue influence in high places and is taking his/her revenge.
Too me a while to decipher that one ed!!!!
That’s it. I’m off this thread, got it??????
Hahahahaha.
#TooFunny!!
ed251137 @1:43 pm, huh?
#Headscratch
I’d tell you RITB but every time I said his name on TT, he’d magically appears like a genie in a bottle.
#HeWhoShallNotBeNamed
@hawkeye @ 1:03 pm. You could always pony up on a Fedfan membership card and become popular on tennis-x……………
#Yawn
ritb: Surely you recall the bane of our lives who was driven to meltdowns by Conspirator’s habit of morphing her name into vulgar variations 😉
Hawkeye: 60 seconds by the look of it. plus 60 seconds to type a comment. lol.
Funny as the IOTT episodes were, I have ‘mares she will crop up here dripping poison.
this is Delpo’s title to win….although Federer has a chance because the scheduling.
Vashy wins 3 and 4. Only surrendered 7 points in ten service games!!!
Fed next in the QF. Go get him Vashy!!!
#Impressive
Hawkeye, Fed will (probably) play Dimitrov in the quarters and not the Popsicle (congrats to him!).
And incidently, Kid Fed has to play the last match of the day against The Dog, while Goat Fed rests today, as an old goat should do. So that’s perfectly fine and respectful. Nothing to see here, folks! 😉
Ah, you are right.
Makes peRFect cents now.
no.
he will play The Dog in the quarters.
#CatProblems
#ReadingComprehension
looks like hawkeye missed #Draw-ingClass back when he was a tot
I forgive you Ricky. You’re 0 for 2 on your picks so far today.
#GodItsKillingMe
#YoureWelcomeFan
#CountingProblems
Ricky, The Goat against The Dog would be fine with me. I’m a huge Dog fan, which can be very frustrating, to say the least.
Btw, why on earth did Jack Reader abbandon The Dog for Troicki??? Was he deceived by Troicki’s first name, or did he smoke something very unwholesome?
It’s ok Ricky, really. Let it all out. You’ll feel better.
“We’ll just let him settle down.”
Who can identify that quote?
This thread starting to read like a list of cryptic crossword clues.
@ 2:09pm. AO 2009 trophy presentation..
I’m impressed Ed. Just from memory?
I just think that line is a riot.
I’m taking the Popsicle over Dr. Ivo, and DP in 2 for sure….and I’ve always said to one and all: “Don’t count out FED!!”…he WILL be back!!!
solid picks
(on the matches, not the other one)
scootd, I’m not exactly disagreeing with you, but you picked one match, after it was finished 🙂
#thesting
he never checks scores until night, so it’s legit
#GreatScoot
I also like Popsicle to win in two. Something like a 6-3, 6-4.
Wow. My favourite new tennis toy boy sure stepped it up against Dr.Ivo
I am more and more impressed. Did anybody see this match – it wasn’t covered by the ATP channel. But his stats (see below) were pretty good although it appears the Doctor’s serve has not been as lethal this week.
http://preview.tinyurl.com/lde848w
you will always have good serve stats against Karlovic
however, 13 of 19 second-serve return points won against Karlovic IS impressive
Delpo/Baghdatis mercifully over. 6/1, 6/2
#totalblowout
merciful allowing 3 games to him
#agreed
ed251137 @7:00 pm, agh…….penny finally dropped.
Joking aside, he is tracking scores on that site………….it’s the true.
hahahaha.
Yeah, tracking threads on here can be tricky, no?
Fed-Baby preview – https://tenngrand.com/2013/10/24/basel-qf-previews-and-picks-federer-vs-dimitrov-del-potro-vs-mathieu/