Stan Wawrinka will kick off his Geneva campaign as the No. 1 seed when he takes the court against Albert Ramos-Vinolas on Tuesday. Meanwhile, first-round action is wrapping up with a meeting between Mikhail Kukushkin and Thomaz Bellucci.
(1) Stan Wawrinka vs. Albert Ramos-Vinolas
Wawrinka and Ramos-Vinolas will be going head-to-head for the sixth time in their careers when they battle for a quarterfinal spot at the Geneva Open on Tuesday. All five of their previous encounters have gone the way of Wawrinka, who is 2-0 against Ramos-Vinolas on clay. The Swiss prevailed twice on the red stuff in 2013, when he won 7-6(4), 6-4 in Buenos Aires and 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 in Oeiras. They most recently faced each other in round one of last summer’s U.S. Open, with Wawrinka getting the job done 7-5, 6-4, 7-6(6).
The world No. 4 is in desperate need of some form as he prepares to defend his 2015 French Open title. He is just 18-7 for the year, with a disastrous 5-5 mark since capturing the Dubai title in February. Wawrinka is coming off a third-round exit in Rome, where he got past Benoit Paire in three sets before succumbing to Juan Monaco 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4. Ramos-Vinolas earned a place in the Geneva second round by beating Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 on Sunday. The 53rd-ranked Spaniard is almost even at 14-15 for his 2016 campaign, with more than half of his wins coming on clay. This may not be the easiest of openers for Wawrinka, but he should motivated to get some matches under his belt–especially in front of home fans–on the heels of some surprising early exits.
Pick: Wawrinka in 2
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Mikhail Kukushkin vs. Thomaz Bellucci
Kukushkin and Bellucci will be squaring off for the second time in their careers at the ATP level and for the second time this season when they meet again on Tuesday. Their only previous encounter came two months ago on the hard courts of Miami, where Kukushkin advanced via retirement with the score tied at one set apiece. Bellucci has a clean bill of health at the moment and he used it to deliver a shocking bagel of world No. 1 Novak Djokovic last week in Rome. The 39th-ranked Brazilian, who ended up losing to Djokovic 0-6, 6-3, 6-2, preceded that result by defeating Gael Monfils and Nicolas Mahut.
Also coming off a strong performance in Rome, Kukushkin went through qualifying (beat eventual semifinalist Lucas Pouille in the process) and knocked out Borna Coric before falling to eventual champion Andy Murray. The 81st-ranked Kazakh had previously been just 2-4 on clay this season (qualifying matches included), with one of those victories coming by retirement. A huge surface advantage goes to Bellucci, who has to be high on confidence following his performance last week.
Pick: Bellucci in 2
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CB and Syd in two.
Bellucci and Stan in straights