David Goffin and Fabio Fognini will square off in an intriguing second-round contest on Thursday in Beijing. John Isner and John Millman are also on the schedule.
(7) David Goffin vs. Fabio Fognini
Goffin and Fognini will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers when the two awesome ball-strikers collide in round two of the China Open on Thursday. From completely out of nowhere, Fognini has suddenly caught fire on hard courts. The 28th-ranked Italian had not won a single match on this surface prior to the U.S. Open, where he stunned Rafael Nadal en route to the fourth round. Fognini then won a pair of indoor Davis Cup rubbers against Russia and he opened in Beijing by crushing Martin Klizan 6-2, 6-1 on Monday.
A much more consistent and even-keeled player than his opponent, Goffin is 33-20 for the season and up to No. 15 in the world. The Belgian, who has his country in the Davis Cup final, reached the third round in New York and was destroying Roberto Bautista Agut before being forced to retire due to illness. Goffin kicked off his Beijing campaign with a 6-2, 6-3 beatdown of Andreas Seppi. Whereas you know what to expect from the No. 7 seed every time he takes the court, Fognini is far more mercurial. He will be hard-pressed to turn in a second consecutive flawless performance–especially with someone other than Nadal on the other side of the net.
Pick: Goffin in 2
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(Q) John Millman vs. (6) John Isner
Isner’s 2015 campaign has been getting progressively better from start to finish following a rough first few months. Because the 6’10” American is outside the top 12 (13th, to be exact) he has endured some difficult draws (Roger Federer in the fourth round of the U.S. Open, for example), but he has no bad losses–not counting a Cincinnati setback against Sam Querrey due entirely to a knee injury–since the start of the hard-court summer. Isner improved to 38-20 for the season by defeating Dominic Thiem 7-5, 6-1 on Tuesday in Beijing.
Up next for the No. 6 seed is a first-ever meeting with Millman. The 76th-ranked Australian has inflated his ranking by spending almost all of his time on the Challenger circuit, but he owns four of his six career ATP-level match victories this year. Millman advanced one round last month in Shenzhen (albeit via a retirement from Ernests Gulbis) and he kicked off this week with a stellar 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 upset of Tommy Robredo. The 26-year-old may be more confident than ever, but an in-form Isner represents a massive step up in competition. Isner did not drop serve once against Thiem and there is no reason to think he will do so with Millman on the other side of the net.
Pick: Isner in 2
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I’ll take fognini in three in a toss up for me that will really depend on how Fabio plays. If he plays great he wins if he plays bad he loses. That’s my opinion at least. Also Isner in 2. He played great against Thiem and broke multiple times so he should be able to get through millman pretty easily.
I think Goffin’s best can beat Fognini’s best on a hard court
^^Seconded.
Goffin in 3 and Isner in 2