Marin Cilic will get his Estoril campaign underway on Thursday and he may not have the easiest opener on his hands in the form of Sebastian Baez. Sebastian Korda and Benjamin Bonzi are also aiming for a spot in the quarterfinals.
Sebastian Baez vs. (3) Marin Cilic
A resurgent second half of 2021 and first month of 2022 has Cilic back up to No. 23 in the world, but momentum has stalled as he heads into the continuation of his clay-court swing at the Estoril Open. Since reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open, Cilic is 3-6 and has not won more than a single match at any tournament. The 33-year-old Croat kicked off his clay season with a second-round effort in Monte-Carlo, beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga before falling to Taylor Fritz.
Up first for Cilic on Thursday following an initial bye is a first-ever meeting with Baez. The 21-year-old Argentine has climbed to a career-high ranking of No. 59 thanks to 11 main-tour match wins this season (he had three in his career prior to 2022). A runner-up in Santiago, Baez continued his clay-court success with a 6-1, 6-3 rout of Joao Sousa on Tuesday. With a match already under his belt in Estoril, an in-form Baez has a good chance to send Cilic packing right away.
Pick: Baez in 3
Benjamin Bonzi vs. (8) Sebastian Korda
Korda and Bonzi will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers on Thursday. Their only previous encounter came at the start of last year, when Korda prevailed 7-6(5), 7-6(1) in the semifinals of an indoor Challenger event in Quimper.
Clay should give Korda even more of an advantage, as Bonzi loves faster surfaces such as indoor hard courts. Korda is the essence of an all-court player, but his lone ATP title has come on the red stuff (Parma in 2021). The 37th-ranked American advanced to the fourth round at Roland Garros in 2020 and reached the last 16 in Monte-Carlo a couple of weeks ago. He destroyed Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday, while Bonzi battled past a rusty Dominic Thiem 6-3, 7-6(9). That’s a nice result on paper for the 58th-ranked Frenchman, but Korda is a much tougher opponent than Thiem these days–probably too tough.
Pick: Korda in 2
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