Reigning Estoril champion Joao Sousa will continue his title defense when he takes the court against fourth-seeded David Goffin on Thursday. Frances Tiafoe and Yoshihito Nishioka are also aiming for a place in the quarterfinals.
(4) David Goffin vs. Joao Sousa
Goffin and Sousa will be facing each other for the sixth time in their careers when they clash in round two of the Estoril Open on Thursday. The head-to-head series stands at 4-1 in favor of Goffin, who won their only previous clay-court encounter 6-7(7), 6-4, 7-6(1) at the 2015 Gstaad event. Sousa, however, completely dominated their most recent meeting 6-0, 6-1 at the 2018 Miami Masters.
It must be noted that Goffin has an excuse for the aforementioned result, as he was just returning from injury. Although the Belgian is healthy this time around, Sousa once again has a clearly advantage on paper. The world No. 51 from Portugal is the defending champion of his home tournament and his opponent is slumping down at 25th in the rankings–much lower than his normal standard. Goffin has lost three matches already this season to opponents outside the top 100. Count on Sousa treating the home crowd to a relatively routine victory.
Pick: Sousa in 2
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(8) Frances Tiafoe vs. Yoshihito Nishioka
Tiafoe and Nishioka will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers and for the first time on the main tour when they battle for a spot in the Estoril quarterfinals on Thursday. Their only previous encounter came in the final of the 2016 Winnetka Challenger, where Nishioka triumphed 6-3, 6-2.
Nishikori has torn an ACL and returned with a vengeance since then, while Tiafoe has been on a steady rise. The 21-year-old American, who up to 31st in the rankings, had reached two ATP finals–including a runner-up showing in Estoril last season to go along with a title in Delray Beach. Tiafoe took care of Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3, 7-5 in round one on Tuesday, while Nishioka downed Makenzie McDonald 6-2, 6-4 on Monday. The eighth seed clearly feels comfortable at this event and will likely have too much firepower for the Japanese underdog.
Pick: Tiafoe in 3
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WWW?
Tiafoe and Fog in three
Fog withdrew
Typical
switched preview to Goffin-Sousa
Sousa in three
dunce cap picks . com
Well Goffin hasn’t been at his best. It’s not too crazy to pick Sousa at home.
But Goffin played well. The best I’ve seen him play for quite a while. I’m relieved he won rather easily.
And Tiafoe barely made it past Nishioka in 3 sets. Maybe Francis underestimated Nishioka some – he might be small but he can be a tough competitor.
Fognini did exactly what I hoped he would after he won Monte Carlo: rest his elbow and leg and takes it easy in Madrid, so he saves his best for gathering points in Rome and RG. Forza Fogna!
Great few weeks for the Italians .
The Japanese played pretty well on clay this week , Pella needed three over Daniel.
Yeah , Goffin is a far better player than Sousa but has been so poor lately I couldn’t pick him here.
Fognini is a Masters champion now and has readjusted his schedule. He’s targetting Masters events and the Majors.
Domingues is being understimated and Tsitsipas is overrated. Dom will cover the handicap.
Goffin gets his opportunity to build on that win against Jaziri however Jaz looks be in some good for atm. Gave Auger-Allissime and contest the other day and FAA played well.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina v Gael Monfils – This is the match in interested in. Monfils we will need to bring his A game, this Davidovich is going to be a superstar. Just wiped the floor with Chardy.
Im going for the upset in this. As good as Monfils is he hasnt played enough clay court tennis and Opelka on clay doesnt say much especially given the windy conditions. Davidovich is red-lining right now. Bookies know it, the 1.45 will pull all the suckers in.
Yeah beating Chardy wasn’t easy.
It’s an interesting clay season,lots of up and coming players and the old guard struggling.
Its practically snowing in Munich and Chechinatto is playing in shorts and a t-shirt. Good to see he came prepared.