Familiar foes Stan Wawrinka and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez will meet again on Friday in Chennai. Roberto Bautista Agut and Borna Coric are also bidding for a spot in the semifinals.
(1) Stan Wawrinka vs. (5) Guillermo Garcia-Lopez
Wawrinka and Garcia-Lopez will be squaring off for the 10th time in their careers at the ATP level when they clash in the quarterfinals of the Aircel Chennai Open on Friday. The head-to-head series stands at 6-3 in favor of Wawrinka, who is 3-0 against Garcia-Lopez on hard courts. Their most memorable and surprising showdown came at the 2014 French Open, where Garcia-Lopez knocked out the Swiss in the first round via a 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 6-0 upset. Wawrinka has since avenged that loss on two occasions; he prevailed 7-6(2), 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(8) at last year’s Australian Open and 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-2 on month later in Rotterdam.
Chennai is not exactly the setting in which one would choose to face Wawrinka, who is a three-time champion (2011, 2014, 2015) and owner of a 20-4 lifetime record. The top seed got off to a commanding start on Wednesday by hammering wild card Andrey Rublev 6-3, 6-2. Garcia-Lopez has advanced with victories over Taro Daniel (4-6, 7-5, 6-2) and Ante Pavic (7-6(5), 6-1). The 27th-ranked Spaniard is coming off a season in which he compiled a solid 31-25 record. But this will be an especially tough test for Garcia-Lopez, as this is basically Wawrinka’s home away from home on the tennis circuit.
Pick: Wawrinka in 2
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(8) Borna Coric vs. (4) Roberto Bautista Agut
Bautista Agut and Coric will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers on Friday. They faced each other twice last season on clay, with Bautista Agut getting the job done on both occasions. He cruised 6-3, 6-3 in Umag and 6-3, 6-4 on Hamburg–both on clay. The 25th-ranked Spaniard is a former runner-up in Chennai (2013) and he reached the semifinals last year. Bautista Agut started in routine fashion on Wednesday, disposing of John Millman 6-4, 6-1.
Coric endured a scare in the first round but now finds himself in the quarterfinals of this season-opening event. After scraping past Marcel Granollers 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-4, the 19-year-old Croat made easier 6-2, 7-5 work of Austin Krajicek. Coric is up to No. 44 in the world, but he will be unseeded at the Australian Open even if he bags the Chennai title. The eighth seed is only getting better and better, so this should be more competitive than their 2015 tussles–but Bautista Agut will produce too much offensive weaponry in the end.
Pick: Bautista Agut in 3
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who ya got?
Have to agree…
RBA 3
Stan 2
But I’ll be happy if Coric surprises.
i had Coric at the start of the tournament, but Bautista Agut appears to be in fine form (destroyed the mail carrier)
At the beginning of the tourney I had RBA beating Coric in quarters. This may be risky but I’m gonna go with Coric in three here and Stan in two of course.
Me(e)
and Benny G(ee)
agree
Whoever can hold serve and not fall down will win this…Coric/RBA…
RBA fell down. Neither of them could think straight or hold serve afterward. Coric, with good reason, was angry at himself. Both appeared to see the comedy for some brief seconds. And now the deciding tie break. coric should win…RBA’s fall looked bad. Call it a twist of fate.
what happened
What happened? Well, what I said at 6:33 pm. I know, it’s not a proper match report by a long shot but forgive me, my brain is scrambled. The drama is in the 3rd set. I guess it was more of a hiccup by Coric after Roberto Bautista-Agut took a spill. RBA seemed okay after falling down, but Borna temporarily lost his serve and his focus. Borna was up a break before RBA fell. The set went to a tie-break and RBA could only win one point in the TB – maybe feeling the effects of the fall? I think Borna Coric is more solid off both wings and defensively. RBA has a wicked forehand when he’s on but he was only on in the first set. He can be a streaky server too.
Match Stats:
http://www.flashscore.com/match/Y5E02DFA/#match-statistics;0
Coric can beat Bedene is my guess. Well, that would be my pick. Might take 3 sets to get the job done. Coric strikes me as a diesel – takes him awhile to get up to speed.
Congrats Coric!
Mee and Benny Gee were red hot nailing our picks of Stan in 2 and Coric in 3.
#Hawkstradamus
Good pick Hawkstra and Benny G!