Former college rivals and familiar professional foes John Isner and Kevin Anderson will face each other again on Monday in Cincinnati. Gilles Simon and Bernard Tomic are also in first-round action.
Kevin Anderson vs. (11) John Isner
Anderson and Isner will be squaring off for the 10th time in their careers when they collide in round one of the Western & Southern Open on Monday night. Isner leads the head-to-head series 6-3, having won three in a row dating back to the fall of 2012. They clashed twice in 2013, with the 6’10” American prevailing 6-2, 7-6(1) in Delray Beach and 6-7(3), 7-6(2), 7-6(2) in the Atlanta title match. Anderson had two championship points in their most recent encounter but he could not close the deal.
That has been a disturbing trend for the 6’8” South African, who is coming off a brutal quarterfinal loss in Toronto to Grigor Dimitrov in which Anderson held multiple match points. Still, he is in solid form having also reached the Washington, D.C. quarters one week earlier. These two former college stars have taken turns with success this U.S. Open Series. Isner lost his opener in both Washington, D.C. and Toronto. While Anderson fell right away in Atlanta, Isner snagged the title. It remains to be seen if Anderson can recover from his setback against Dimitrov and Isner will benefit further from a night-session atmosphere on center court.
Pick: Isner in 3
[polldaddy poll=8238233]
Gilles Simon vs. (Q) Bernard Tomic
Simon and Tomic will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers on Monday. Both of their previous encounters have gone Simon’s way; 7-6(8), 6-3 last summer on the grass of Eastbourne and 6-4, 7-5 a few month later in Bangkok. Tomic, however, may finally be rounding into form just in time to turn the tide. The 21-year-old struggled physically and with his play this spring, but he captured a hard-court title last month in Bogota. Tomic is coming off a third-set tiebreaker loss to Ivo Karlovic in the Toronto first round.
Simon is by no means in great form, but he has at least started to play better since a disastrous start to the season in which he lost his opening main-draw match in six of eight tournaments. The Frenchman reached the third round at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon and he advanced one round last week in Toronto (beat Dominic Thiem, lost to Tommy Robredo). Although they stand five inches skewed (Simon is 6’0”; Tomic is 6’5”), Tomic is basically a younger version of Simon in terms of their baseline play. The Australian is also more capable of winning free points on serve. Those factors should give Tomic a slight edge in what will be a competitive affair full of long, conservative rallies.
Pick: Tomic in 3
[polldaddy poll=8238234]
As usual, you underrate and hate on Gilles Simon i see… “he can’t hit volleys”
And he has a wrist ligament and plays with anti-inflammatory atm.
incorrect
I persist, you don’t like him, it’s obvious.
Comparing Simon to Tomic is a joke as well.
What you got against Simon Ricky?
Well I just hope you don’t compare Simon with Tomic the Tank Engine, don’t you? Or do you. No you did. OK. Good.
i hope that question is a joke
given that it’s from hawkeye, i’m confident it is
#jokes
@hawkeye63
He paints him as a sexist in the facebook chat groups
According to him:
Simon has beaten Tomic only because Tomic wasn’t in good form
It”s rare when he wins (he often has minor injuries though)/he can’t volley
etc…
whose fault is that?
-He’s not sexist: his arguments for equal prize money in tennis are almost ONLY economical
-i’ve watched Simon/Tomic at Eastbourne last year and the frenchman played a high level tie-break in the first set (hitting many winners) + Tomic is no joke on grass
-This year, he rarely wins but it’s fair to take in consideration that he had some minor injuries (he almost withdrew from his match vs Robredo last week for example because of a wrist ligament)
He can hit real volleys (like at Wimbledon this year vs Haase)
He has a decent chance to become the new president of the ATP council soon (in concurrence with Wawrinka), not a good news for you (and for others) i guess.
Simon? Sexist? For wanting more prize money than women in slams where men and women are on the same ticket?
Nah, how could that possibly be sexist? Oh wait,,,
Simon? With his combination of defence and off speed shots? Nah, how could that possibly be like Tomic? Oh wait…
Ricky, hope this helps with any confusion. Still, though Ricky seriously, why the Simon vendetta?
#DoingTheJokings
#CantStop
#DoYou????
-Maybe you should read his interviews about this issue, only economical arguments to explain his position (TV viewers, crowd, prizes in the finals) and i think he’s more informed than you, if you ask me.
You can disagree with his position of course but saying he’s a sexist is unfounded and untrue.
-Simon is much better at changing the pace in the rally than Tomic and is more astute tactically, when he plays fine.
Also, this sensitive issue was only a little part of his interview, he talked about other issues much more deeply.
I’ve read them. You shouldn’t presume otherwise.
As a whole, Montreal WTA even last week was much more compelling than Toronto ATP.
Regardless, ATP and WTA events already have drastically different pay.
Only in slams are they equal because M/F players are on the same ticket except for SF and F in which case there is only a small difference.of approx. 15%. Averaged out over the two weeks, even this small difference becomes smaller in terms of revenue. This small difference pales in comparison to historical discrepancies in prize money at slams prior to pay equity.
http://www.thetennisspace.com/sexism-in-tennis-like-smog-in-the-air/
#AgreeToDisagree
https://twitter.com/BenRothenberg/status/499007739553910784/photo/1