Juan Monaco will be back in action for the first time since August when he takes the court in Buenos Aires on Tuesday against Marco Cecchinato. Dominic Thiem and Pablo Carreno Busta are also kicking off their weeks.
Pablo Carreno Busta vs. (5) Dominic Thiem
Thiem and Carreno Busta will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers at the ATP level when they collide in round one of the Argentina Open on Tuesday. Their only previous meeting on the main circuit came last summer on the clay courts of Gstaad, where Thiem prevailed 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. They had previously split a pair of lower-level encounters, with Thiem winning a Futures match in 2012 before Carreno Busta came out on top in a Challenger date one year later (both on clay).
Clay is obviously the surface on which Carreno Busta would choose to go up against his Austrian adversary. In line with the story of his career, the 64th-ranked Spaniard went winless in two hard-court tournaments last month before picking up the pace last week in Quito and reaching the quarterfinals. The problem for Carreno Busta is that even though Thiem is an all-court player, the dirt may also be his favorite surface. All four of the 22-year-old’s ATP finals have come at 250-point tournaments on outdoor clay and he went 3-0 in finals last season. Still in fine form, Thiem is showing no sign of losing early in Buenos Aires.
Pick: Thiem in 2
[polldaddy poll=9303325]
(Q) Marco Cecchinato vs. Juan Monaco
Due to a wrist injury, Monaco has not played since retiring from a first-round match on the clay courts of Kitzbuhel last summer. Nonetheless, the 31-year-old Argentine still registers at a decent 55th in the world thanks to a run of success in the winter and spring of 2015. He finished runner-up to Rafael Nadal at this same Buenos Aires event, reached the third round in Indian Wells, and made a surprise appearance in the Miami quarterfinals.
Monaco will make his return in the form of a first-ever meeting with Cecchinato. Whereas his opponent has not played a match in more than six months, Cecchinato has already taken the court twice this week. Seeded first in qualifying, the 92nd-ranked Italian took care of his two matches without any trouble to book a spot in the main draw. Although this is a decent draw for Monaco (until the winner plays Nadal in round two), he is extremely rusty and asking him to beat a solid clay-courter who is match-tough at the moment may be too much.
Pick: Cecchinato in 3
[polldaddy poll=9303327]
who ya got?
Juan in three and Thiem in three
I don’t know enough about any of them to make a sound pick. Thiem seems the best out of all of them. He’s okay, not sure what the hype is, he’s not good enough to beat the top guys, but I tend to compare them all to Novak. Probably not the most logical thing to do, I just don’t see anyone breaking through those top guys at the moment.
Harrison just won
awesome match!!!
Monaco is BACK…I like him in straight!
would be good for the game…and for anyone who wants to see Rafa-Pico instead of Rafa-Checho.
Rafa will play his first match on Thursday (Feb.11th, not 12th):
https://twitter.com/ArgentinaOpen/status/697097302859739136
The mistake has been corrected (12th ➡ 11th)
https://twitter.com/ArgentinaOpen/status/697102999370539008
Thiem in 3… and checho in 2… surprised Goffin lost it after being 5-2 up in the breaker.
Rafa is not playing until Thursday.
OOP – Wednesday
http://www.protennislive.com/posting/2016/506/op.pdf
I’m fascinated by Olivo. He has languished in Challengers for most of his career but has come to life on the ATP circuit – first in Quito and has now just won his first match in Beunos Aires.
languished in Challengers? The guy is like 22 years old.
Actually he’s pushing 24
my point exactly. He is an up-and-coming player slowly making his way from Challengers to the main tour.
In other words a late developer.
relatively speaking. I wouldn’t say very late by standards of South American clay-courters. They don’t exactly have the weapons to break out early like Thiem and Zverev.
He made vast improvements during the off season particularly with his serve and he is more aggressive now. This is what he said in an interview at least.
good stuff
He also won on his grand slam debut in Melbourne with a quality five set win over Vesely. He also qualified with quality wins over Ymer, Mitchell, and Millot. He was a set away from a round three meeting with Simon, too. Sadly, he fell to Delbonis in a five setter. Overall, Olivo has been really impressive lately and is in the form of his career. He just has a solid game in general to be honest.
Rothenberg loves him
Speaking of Delbonis, his match with Fogna is going on. It’s a nail-biter in the 3rd set. Only have the score – but lot’s of evidence of a fun match in Buenos Aires.
Delbonis got the win. Good stuff and big victory for the Argentine.
good for Rafa
Fog was in Ferru’s half.
won’t have to play him in the final. Nadal owns Ferrer.
Ferru owns Fog.
it’s over
Haha. Celebrate, Rafans!!
Olivo is I a month away from 24. Had to look him up last week when he made it to QF’s in Quito That was the first time I’d watched Renzo Olivo. Good win for him today. His next opponent – David Ferrer.
ouch
Fognini is out.
Delbonis wins 67 64 64
crowd was fired up
Thiem balling. This will probably be straights.
called it
Strange turn of events. Maybe now it will be Thiem in 3 like I thought. PCB has the momentum right now though.
Thiem will win
Dominant Thiem! a 5-2 lead in the 3rd.
5-3
“A lead 5-2” means only one break of serve.
Pico Monaco (37 minutes ago): “Getting ready for today’s match!!”
https://twitter.com/picomonaco/status/697186879976955904
Thiem wins 6-3 in the third.
bad for Isner. bad for Nadal.
Bad for Isner, no impact on Rafa.
why? He and PCB are tight.
PCB wouldn’t have gotten an opportunity to meet other opponents if he had been good for Isner.
i’m saying that Nadal and PCB are friends. Has nothing to do with the draw.
Not true. Thiem beating Rafa is very possible.
i also agree with this. But Nadal can only play one of Isner and Thiem. He can’t play both.
Well, thank goodness for that! One or the other is okay, not both! Thiem makes me nervous because he’s got the game and has no pressure on him. He’s not that consistent and doesn’t have the mental strength or even physical stamina, but this kid can play.
We all know what it means to play Isner!
The Fog and the Dog are out.
how did Rafa come to the stage where we should fear him meeting Thiem on CLAY?!
you really should pay Rafa more respect…
Who are “we” ?
Hear, hear! natashao.
I accept that playing Isner is a pain in the neck but Thiem!
yep…with Isner it can always go either way…one or two unlucky points and the match is gone…