Gael Monfils and Fabio Fognini will take the court in Buenos Aires during second-round action on Thursday evening. A pair of spots in the quarterfinals are at stake, with Monfils going up against Dusan Lajovic and Fognini facing Leonardo Mayer.
Dusan Lajovic vs. Gael Monfils
Monfils has already been his usual self in the early stages of 2018 as he heads into the second round of the Argentina Open on Thursday. The 43rd-ranked Frenchman has fluctuated wildly to both ends of the results spectrum, which is nothing new for him. He kicked off the season by capturing the Doha title, turned in a terrible, heat-plagued performance against a vulnerable Novak Djokovic in round two of the Australian Open, and lost to Thiago Monteiro in last week’s Quito quarterfinals. Once again, it is hard to tell if Monfils is 100 percent; but he at least had enough to blow past No. 7 seed Pablo Cuevas 6-1, 6-4 on Tuesday.
Up next for the 31-year-old is a first-ever showdown against Lajovic, who advanced with a 7-6(4), 6-1 victory over Facundo Bagnis on Monday. The 88th-ranked Serb had been 0-3 this season (including a qualifying setback in Sydney) with five-set losses to Diego Schwartzman (Australian Open) and John Isner (Davis Cup). Monfils is probably too up-and-down to finish this one quickly, but the discrepancy in talent level should pave the way to another final-set failure for Lajovic.
Pick: Monfils in 3
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(4) Fabio Fognini vs. Leonardo Mayer
Fognini and Mayer will be going head-to-head for the fourth time in their careers on Thursday. All three of their previous encounters–two on clay–have gone the way of Fognini, who is 6-1 in total sets against Mayer and dropped only one in a tiebreaker at this same Buenos Aires event in 2014. The Italian, who prevailed on the grass courts of Stuttgart four years ago and on the red clay of Vina Del Mar earlier in 2014, won that Buenos Aires battle 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-2.
Mayer earned his place in this matchup with a 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4 defeat of qualifier Rogerio Dutra Silva on Tuesday. The 50th-ranked Argentine is now an even 3-3 this season with second-round showings in Sydney (lost to Benoit Paire) and Melbourne (lost to Rafael Nadal). Fognini, the beneficiary of a first-round bye as the fourth seed, is off to a stellar start to 2018. The 30-year-old Italian reached the semifinals in Sydney and the fourth round of the Australian Open before some heroic work in his nation’s David Cup first-round win over Japan (won three rubbers, including both singles matches in five sets). It may take a while for Fognini to find his footing in his first clay-court match of the season, but his head-to-head success against Mayer should continue.
Pick: Fognini in 3
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WYG?
Fog in three and Monfils in two
Over in Fog match as Fog can lose as it is his 1st clay match of the season. If Ninini….(!) loses 1 set and doesn’t raise his lvl in the 2nd, Fog can say Hi mother Italy, here I come!lol. But Fog should win after some struggle with his vast experience. Fog needs to throe some tantrums and some balls at the umpire to get the testosterone flowing in his old body to win his 1st match!lol
Fog ML and over. +1.5 sets Mayer can hit.
Monfils in 3 as he starts slow many times, jokes with the crowd, shows off and loses the 1st set (or any 1 set)…like he did against Monteiro (and lost the match) b4 he warms up his engine and wins in the 3rd set.
Monfils ML and over
This has the strong making of a Dominic Thiem v/s the ever so spirited Diego Schwartzman .. http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/schwartzman-feature-2018-tuesday