Bastad R1 previews and predictions: Ferrer vs. Delbonis, Brown vs. Bellucci

Two tough first-round matchups highlight the first-round schedule in Bastad on Tuesday. David Ferrer is facing Federico Delbonis, while Dustin Brown is going up against Thomaz Bellucci.

(8) David Ferrer vs. (Q) Federico Delbonis

Ferrer and Delbonis will be making the transition from grass back to clay when they square off in round one of the SkiStar Swedish Open on Tuesday. The head-to-head series stands at 2-0 in favor of Ferrer, who prevailed 7-6(2), 6-1 on the red clay of Rio de Janeiro in 2014 and 6-1, 6-1 at the 2015 Miami Masters. Both players have hit the skids in 2017, and the 35-year-old Spaniard is toiling away down at No. 46 in the world. There is, however, at least marginal reason for encouragement despite a disappointing 10-14 record this season. Ferrer’s clay-court spring included a semifinal showing in Estoril and a second-round performance at the French Open (beat Donald Young 13-11 in the fifth set; lost to Feliciano Lopez in five) before he advanced to the last 32 at Wimbledon–with an upset of Richard Gasquet included.

Delbonis’ lowly ranking of 84th forced him to qualify in Bastad, which he did successfully by beating Markus Eriksson and Stephane Robert in straight sets. The Argentine recently dabbled into the Challenger circuit so that he could remain on clay following dreadful ATP-level losses to Reda El Amrani (Marrakech first round) and Konstantin Kravchuk (French Open first round). A couple of qualifying matches under Delbonis’ belt will help, but Ferrer–even in his diminished state–is a steep step up in competition.

Pick: Ferrer in 3

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Thomaz Bellucci vs. Dustin Brown

Brown and Bellucci will also be doing battle for the third time in their careers at the ATP level on Tuesday. The two veterans have split their two previous encounters, with Brown getting the job done 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-1 on the clay courts of Gstaad in 2016 before Bellucci got a second-set retirement from Brown shortly thereafter at the Rio Olympics.

Grass is obviously Brown’s favorite surface, but he is coming off an unspectacular campaign on the green stuff. The 93rd-ranked German lost in the semifinals of the Surbiton Challenger, the ‘s-Hertogenbosch first round, the Halle second round, and the Wimbledon second round (to Andy Murray). He played on clay last week and fell right away to Marco Cecchinato in the Braunschweig Challenger. Bellucci, who is generally much more adept on clay, also got unceremoniously bounced out of Braunschweig in round one (by Gastao Elias). Although the 65th-ranked Brazilian has mostly disappointed this season, he does have a semifinal finish in Quito and a runner-up performance in Houston to his credit. Those clay-court results suggest he should have too much game from the back of the court for Brown.

Pick: Bellucci in 3

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