Milos Raonic and John Isner will be looking to maintain their hot streaks when they take the court on Thursday in Cincinnati. Tomas Berdych and Tommy Robredo are also looking for a place in the quarterfinals.
(12) Milos Raonic vs. John Isner
Raonic and Isner will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers when they wage a big-serving battle on Thursday afternoon during third-round action at the Western & Southern Open. Their only previous encounter came last season at the Rogers Cup, where Isner silenced the Canadian crowd with a 7-6(9), 6-4 victory. Isner has home-court advantage this time around, in what is his favorite time of year on his favorite surface of outdoor hard courts in the U.S.A. The world No. 22 is heating up nicely with a semifinal in Newport, a title in Atlanta, and a runner-up showing in Washington, D.C. So far in Cincinnati, Isner has taken out Florian Mayer and Richard Gasquet without dropping a set.
Similarly, Raonic went through a brief rough stretch earlier this season before rounding into form this summer. His change of fortunes came in front of home crowd in Montreal, where Raonic went all the way to the final before losing to Rafael Nadal. Despite the quick turnaround, he finds himself in the last 16 of Cincinnati. The world No. 10 overcame Jack Sock in three sets on Tuesday before defeating Janko Tipsarevic 6-4, 7-6(4). Whereas Isner has been on fire through two rounds, Raonic has shown obvious signs of fatigue and he served nowhere near 100 percent against Tipsarevic. Unless Isner has a terrible day with his own serve, this should be more straightforward than the tale of the tape suggests.
Pick: Isner in 2
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(6) Tomas Berdych vs. Tommy Robredo
Berdych and Robredo will be facing each other for the ninth time in their careers and for the second time this season. They most recently met earlier this year on the clay courts of Barcelona, where Robredo scored a 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-3 win. The resurgent 31-year-old continued to play well on the slow stuff and made a memorable run to the French Open quarterfinals before capturing the Umag title. Back up to No. 23 in the world, Robredo is also playing well on hard courts. He battled past Thomaz Bellucci in three sets to begin his week in Cincinnati then upset Stanislas Wawrinka 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 on Wednesday.
Things have been more straightforward for Berdych, in part because he earned a first-round bye as the No. 6 seed. He kicked off his campaign on Wednesday by drubbing Jarkko Nieminen 6-3, 6-2. The sixth-ranked Czech is 38-15 for the season, but he is just 3-3 dating back to the Wimbledon quarterfinals. Berdych may not be at his very best right now, but the surface favors him and so does the fatigue factor. Robredo has spent four hours and 27 minutes on the court over the past two days and he did not finish against Wawrinka until late on Wednesday night.
Pick: Berdych in 2
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