An enticing second-round matchup in Estoril pits Ben Shelton against Dominic Thiem on Thursday. Roberto Bautista Agut and Quentin Halys are also aiming for a place in the quarterfinals of the European clay-court swing’s first tournament.
Dominic Thiem vs. (8) Ben Shelton
Something will have to when give when Shelton and Thiem go head-to-head for the first time in their careers in round two of the Estoril Open on Thursday. Shelton has a massive edge in current form, which at first glance would make him the favorite. However, he is a novice on clay courts and now has to face an opponent who was once one of the best clay-court players in the world. If Thiem was anything close to his real self right now, he would be an overwhelming favorite on this surface.
Shelton impressed in his first ATP-level match on clay, defeating Constant Lestienne 7-5, 7-5 on Tuesday. Conditions are playing quite fast in Estoril, which bodes well for the Australian Open quarterfinalist because of his huge serve. It’s hard to see Thiem being consistent enough on his own serve to win easily against an opponent who makes holding serve so important. Still, a loss on clay to a player with so little experience on it would really signal dire times for the former world No. 3. Thiem, who produced decent enough tennis during a three-set victory over fellow Austrian Sebastian Ofner in round one, should be able to advance.
Pick: Thiem in 3
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(4) Roberto Bautista Agut vs. Quentin Halys
Bautista Agut and Halys will also be squaring off for the first time in their careers. Simply because Bautista Agut is from Spain, many tennis fans probably don’t realize that clay his actually his worst surface. The good news for him is that Halys has also delivered his least impressive results on the red stuff. That being said, both men are far from hopeless on it; they are all-court players, so the surface doesn’t really need to be taken into account in this matchup.
More good news for Bautista Agut is that he isn’t going up against Emil Ruusuvuori. Estoril’s fourth seed faced the Finn in his opening match at each of the two recent Masters 1000 tournaments and lost on both occasions. Meanwhile, Halys won six matches combined at the Phoenix Challenger and the Miami Masters. The 80th-ranked Frenchman also beat Nuno Borges on Tuesday. With a clay-court match already under his belt, Halys should be competitive on Thursday. However, Bautista Agut is the far more rested player he should be very motivated–even at a small 250 event–following his disappointments in Indian Wells and Miami.
Pick: Bautista Agut in 3
who ya got?
Thiem in 3….I think……and RBA in 2.
Kecmanovic in 3
Halys in 3