A semifinal spot will be at stake when Dominic Thiem goes up against David Ferrer on Friday in Cincinnati. On the other side of the draw, which is more wide open, John Isner is facing fellow American Jared Donaldson.
(3) Dominic Thiem vs. David Ferrer
Thiem and Ferrer will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers when they square off in the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Open on Friday. Their only previous meeting came last season on the red clay of Rio de Janeiro, where Thiem cruised 6-3, 6-2. Ferrer had mostly been on the way down ever since, but the 35-year-old Spaniard is suddenly in resurgent form. After going 8-13 in his first 21 matches in 2017, he reached the third round at Wimbledon, won the Bastad title, and advanced two rounds in Montreal before losing to Roger Federer in three sets. So far in Cincinnati, Ferrer has defeated Steve Johnson, Janko Tipsarevic, and Pablo Carreno Busta.
Thiem’s season has taken a much different trajectory. While the overall body of work is much better than Ferrer’s, the eighth-ranked Austrian has begun to go downhill–which isn’t surprising given that the two clay-court swings are things of the past. Prior to this week, Thiem had won multiple matches at only one tournament since reaching the French Open semis (Wimbledon fourth round). But Cincinnati’s No. 3 seed appears to be back in business with straight-set victories Fabio Fognini and Adrian Mannarino. Thiem can struggle against players who take time away from him, but that is something Ferrer will be unable to do. Moreover, the veteran already has a pair of three-setters in his legs this week.
Pick: Thiem in 2
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(WC) Jared Donaldson vs. (14) John Isner
Isner will be running into a third consecutive up-and-coming American wild card when he battles Donaldson on Friday. The No. 14 seed faced Frances Tiafoe on Thursday night and prevailed 7-6(3), 7-5, a result that followed straight-set defeats of Viktor Troicki and Tommy Paul. This marks Isner’s third impressive event since the start of the U.S. summer swing, as he previously lifted trophies in Newport and Atlanta.
Donaldson is also in stellar form–the best of his career, in fact. The 20-year-old is up to 60th in the world and will climb to No. 51 even if he loses to Isner. Donaldson owns way more than half of his lifetime ATP-level match wins this season (17 of 28), including a whopping 11 in his last six tournaments alone. That includes Cincinnati, where he has taken out Roberto Bautista Agut, Ramkumar Ramanathan, and Nikoloz Basilashvili. Still, Isner is the obvious favorite in this one. The 31-year-old is a former runner-up in Cincinnati (2013), he is 1-0 in the head-to-head series against Donaldson (2015 Queen’s Club), and he has held all 32 of his service games this week.
Pick: Isner in 2
[polldaddy poll=9811556]
who ya got?
Isner in two and Ferrer in three
(3) Dominic Thiem vs. David “The TERROR(ist)” FERRER
Leaning on Thiem (or to win in 3 sets. BB=OVER
Even though the “FERRER the TERROR(ist)” old man already has a pair of three-setters in his legs this week, he will fight tooth-an-nail and win one of the 3 sets before going down fighting.
I won’t be surprised if “FERRER the TERROR(ist)” beats Thiem in 2 or 3. Because the stats show that “The Terror” has the below advantages over Thiem! But, if Thiem can recover from his HARD 2 TIGHT set match (played in sweltering heat) and plays at a high level(as played in the peak of the Clay season), then Thymo can win in 2 tight sets or 3!
1st SERVE POINTS WON-4%
2nd SERVE POINTS WON-20%
BREAK POINTS WON-27%
TOTAL POINTS WON-2%
Thiem’s only advantage is in below:-
1st SERVE %-8%
TOTAL RETURN POINTS WON-10%
Aces served-4(more than The Terror)
When you go into the “Nuts & Bolts”, “The Terror” has many advantages not visible to the casual eyes! Hence, don’t be shocked if the “The Terror” upsets the Flakey and Tired DomiNICKED Thiem!lol
I consider the 3 wins(Over the highly ranked, strong & powerful home FAV-Steve Johnson, Janko Tisarevic, the inform and dangerous player who crushed all opposition in the eastern hemisphere winning many Challengers & pocketing big money! and finally the Busta who can bust anybody’s XXXXS on any surface on any day!WARNING-Don’t try to imagine and fill the X’s above!lol) of “The Terror” more valuable than the 2 wins of Thymo {Over a Clay Courter, daddy Pignini !lol Don’t worry Pignini (I will always love you, however you are!lol), you are not so short & fat as a pig!lol Thymo gets credit for his win over a tough sob Mannarino, but NO CREDIT for struggling to beat him in 2 very tight sets with tie-breakers in each}!
Thiem faded badly in the 2nd set against Mannarino and just survived to win in a tie-breaker. This shows that Thiem is not in top form. He just has OK form. That may not be enough against a fighter like “FERRER the TERROR(ist)”, who has NADALesque strength, endurance and great court movement to counter Thiem!
BB = Slip 1 = OVER, Slip 1 = “FERRER the TERROR(ist)” Max. handicap points (+ 4 ?) Slip 3 = Thymo ML
(WC) Jared Donaldson vs. (14) John Isner
Isner should win in 2 tight sets (7-6, 6-4) just like their only H2H match on 06/2015 @ AEGON.
Isner’s winning momentum of many HC matches and Tournament wins (Newport & Atlanta) besides his huge size,reach and power advantage….will power Isner to a 2 tight set win!
Jared’s only advantage is in the Return game(5% adv.). Isner’s stats over powers Jared in all other areas (not worth giving stats. It is overwhelming!)!
Jared in fact played very badly yesterday (even tho he secured a win over NikHOLES). He committed 5 DOUBLE FAULTS against NikHOLES!lol Very bad Jared!
Isner’s one big advantage is on the ACE COUNT front! With his superman serves, Isner can get out of many sticky situations and win most tiebreakers! Jared can’t! Yesterday, Isner served 22 aces against a hapless shorty Tiafoe vs only 5 aces by Jared against NikHOLES!
By the By, did anybody bet on NikHOLES against Jared, yesterday? I want to see how big of a HOLE, NikHOLES made in your pocket!lol
BB = Slip2 = Over may (if 22 or less) or may not hit. Bookies haven’t posted it yet. Over should hit as I expect Jared to give a tough fight as Jared is in very good form. Jared has a W/L record of 20/11 vs 12/7 of Isner on hard this season.
DONALD (son) will fight as hard as our President DONALD Trump fought hard as an underdog against the FAV Hillary Clinton…but the only difference will be that, he will lose, fighting! Because he doesn’t have the talking power nope, the serving and returning power of Isner!)
Besides, Jared will get a lot of sympathy votes, wat? Nope…sympathy cheers from the home crowd as Jared will be small sized underdog (in real life with the bookies also) David versus a Goliath Isner!
As I love all underdogs, i will also cheer loudly and wave with one hand while with the other hand give Isner a big tip money saying…Pssst Isner, take this NOTE ($500, Isner ML, -2) and return me a change of $750 or more…after the match!Ha,ha,ha…
BB = Slip 1 = Isner ML and -1,-2…or maybe more if the Goliath Isner is in a destruction mode and mood!lol
Correction Above:-
Leaning on Thiem [or “FERRER the TERROR(ist)” to win in 3 sets]. BB=OVER
Isner in 2
Ferrer in 2
I like Ferrer in 3 and The Big Dawg in 2.
Ricky the moron, per usual
Well done, David! Beautifully played match and well deserved victory!
Good to have Ferrer back!
Woohoo!! Yes it is!!
Well done Ferrer, but Thiem need to win these sort of matches away from clay
hahaha so easy money Ferrer bowy