Roger Federer will continue his Roland Garros campaign on Wednesday against Somdev Devvarman. Marin Cilic and Nick Kyrgios are also in action.
(Q) Somdev Devvarman vs. (2) Roger Federer
Federer and Devvarman will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers when they clash in the second round of the French Open on Wednesday. Their only previous encounter came two years ago on the hard courts of Dubai, where Federer cruised 6-3, 6-3.
Devvarman went on to have a solid 2011 campaign, during which he peaked as high as No. 62 in the world. A major shoulder injury all but destroyed his 2012 season, but the Indian is getting back on track this year. Devvarman advanced one round at the Australian Open and reached the third round in Miami. He has not lost an opener in a single ATP tournament main draw in 2013. It has already been a stellar trip to Roland Garros for the underdog, who qualified for the main draw over the weekend (he ousted No. 8 seed Wayne Odesnik at the final stage). Devvarman maintained his momentum on Sunday by dismissing fellow qualifier Daniel Munoz-De La Nava 6-3, 6-3, 7-5.
Federer kicked off his fortnight on Sunday with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 drubbing of qualifier Pablo Carreno-Busta. The third-ranked Swiss is now 19-6 for the year, which includes no titles and one final (a runner-up finish earlier this month in Rome to Rafael Nadal). Federer’s other clay-court tournament resulted in a third-round Madrid loss to Kei Nishikori. This is the best surface for Devvarman on which to face Federer, because the world No. 188 is a baseline grinder and one of the fastest players on tour. However, he does not have any kind of firepower with which to hurt his heavily-favored opponent.
Pick: Federer 7-5, 6-3, 6-2
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(WC) Nick Kyrgios vs. (10) Marin Cilic
Kyrgios and Cilic will be meeting for the first time in their careers–obviously–on Wednesday. After all, Kyrgios’ opener against Radek Stepanek was his first career main-draw match at any ATP-level tournament or Grand Slam. The 18-year-old Aussie made a name for himself by winning the Australian Open junior title earlier this season and he won a Futures event on hard courts last month. In his first clay-court match of the year, Kyrgios battled past Stepanek in three tiebreakers; 7-6(4), 7-6(8), 7-6(11).
Cilic has been in dreadful form since reaching the Miami quarterfinals in March. The 11th-ranked Croat is a decent 19-9 for his 2013 campaign, but he had been a disappointing 3-4 on European clay heading in the French Open. Cilic, who dropped his opening matches in Munich and Madrid, hammered a rusty Philipp Petzschner 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 in round one. This should be a entertaining and big-hitting affair that features few breaks of serve even on the slow stuff.
Pick: Cilic in 5
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