Vienna
(1) David Ferrer vs. (6) Ivo Karlovic: Karlovic needed three tiebreakers against Federico Delbonis in the first round, which is not entirely unexpected but also not encouraging. Ferrer, who leads the head-to-head series 2-1, has too good of a service return to lose this one. Ferrer in 2.
(4) Philipp Kohlschreiber vs. Benjamin Becker: Kohlschreiber had been out with a shoulder injury, but he won his opener against Carlos Berlocq and said afterward that he felt great. That’s bad news for Becker. Kohlschreiber in 2.
(Q) Viktor Troicki vs. Thomaz Bellucci: Troicki’s comeback is picking up more and more momentum every week. Bellucci took advantage of a less-than-100 percent Feliciano Lopez on Thursday. An indoor hard-court semifinal is not happening for the Brazilian. Troicki in 2.
Jan-Lennard Struff vs. (2) Andy Murray: Struff won’t have much rest after outlasting Sergiy Stakhovsky in a third-set tiebreaker. Murray, on the other hand, rolled over Vasek Pospisil 6-4, 6-4. This will be a free lesson for the young German. Murray in 2.
Moscow
(Q) Ricardas Berankis vs. (5) Roberto Bautista Agut: This is not a good matchup for Berankis. Both men generally stay at the baseline and hit extremely flat, but Bautista Agut does all of it with more power and also more variety. Berankis did extremely well to upset Milos Raonic, but a repeat performance cannot be expected. Bautista Agut in 2.
(3) Ernests Gulbis vs. (8) Andreas Seppi: This all comes down to Gulbis’ shoulder status. At 100 percent, this is a perfect matchup for the Latvian–especially on an indoor hard court. However, his shoulder has not looked good in recent tournaments and Thursday’s match was not encouraging. Seppi in 2.
(7) Mikhail Youzhny vs. Mikhail Kukushkin: Kukushkin is in fine form, but Youzhny is playing at home and rarely disappoints in front of the Russian crowd. He won this event the last time he played it in 2009, beating none other than Kukushkin in the process. Youzhny in 3.
(6) Tommy Robredo vs. (2) Marin Cilic: Surface will almost always dictate the outcome of this match. On a fast hard court, Robredo will not be able to recover from starting return points from so far behind the baseline like he did in an Indian Wells loss to Cilic earlier this season. Cilic in 2.
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Stockholm
(1) Tomas Berdych vs. (Q) Marius Copil: It has already been a great week for Copil, who qualified for the main draw and has capitalized on a favorable draw en route to the quarters. This is where his good fortune ends. Berdych, who took care of Dustin Brown in his opener, is on a mission for London. Berdych in 2.
(7) Fernando Verdasco vs. Bernard Tomic: This one features colorful characters in Verdasco, Tomic, and also if you delve into the coaching ranks with Verdasco’s dad and Xavier Malisse. The Spaniard’s forehand firepower should be the difference on a fast indoor hard court. Verdasco in 3.
Jack Sock vs. (2) Grigor Dimitrov: This is Sock’s seventh ATP quarterfinal of the year, so he knows what he is doing at this stage of tournaments. Still, Dimitrov has the experience edge and he also has to be feeling quite comfortable in Stockholm as the defending champion. Dimitrov in 3.
My head says Troicki after the beatdowns he handed V.E.B and Rosol. But I seem to recall Bellucci reaching the Moscow final on indoor hard a couple of years ago, beating Karlovic and Janowicz and someone else in the process. He’s serving well, could be a tight one. Troicki in 3, Ferrer in 3, Kohlschreiber in 3, Kukushin in 3, Sock in 3, Seppi in 3, Cilic in 3 (choke possible), Verdasco in 2, Berdych in 2, RBA in 2, Murray in 2, Bachinger in 2.