A trio of Spaniards will be in action when the Geneva quarterfinals take place on Thursday. Pablo Carreno Busta gets a shot at No. 1 seed Stan Wawrinka, while David Ferrer is going up against countryman Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.
(1) Stan Wawrinka vs. Pablo Carreno Busta
Wawrinka and Carreno Busta will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers when they clash in the quarterfinals of the Geneva Open on Thursday. Their only previous meeting came three years ago on the clay courts of Oeiras, where Wawrinka prevailed 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. The fourth-ranked Swiss is the defending champion of the upcoming French Open, but he is in dire need of a confidence boost prior to next week. Wawrinka was just 5-5 in his last 10 matches heading into Geneva, where he opened with a 6-1, 6-1 rout of Albert Ramos-Vinolas on Tuesday.
Carreno Busta benefited from playing in a quarter of the draw vacated by No. 5 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber. The 43rd-ranked Spaniard beat qualifier Christian Garin 6-2, 7-5 in the first round before rolling over countryman Inigo Cervantes 6-2, 6-4. Carreno Busta owns 18 ATP-level match victories this season and he finished runner-up in Estoril earlier this month. The discrepancy in offensive firepower, however, may be too great for the underdog to overcome in this one. Moreover, Wawrinka has home-court advantage and will be eager to get a few more matches under his belt before traveling to Paris.
Pick: Wawrinka in 2
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Guillermo Garcia-Lopez vs. (2) David Ferrer
It will be an all-Spanish affair when Ferrer and Garcia-Lopez face each other for the 12th time in their careers on Thursday. They have already squared off twice during this clay-court swing, with Ferrer getting the job done 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 in Madrid and 6-4, 6-3 in Rome. He is now leads the head-to-head series 10-1 and has picked up nine victories in a row at Garcia-Lopez’s expense. Ferrer has taken nine of their last 10 total sets and not a single one of those nine in the world No. 12’s favor has been more competitive than 6-4.
Struggling both physically and with his game at the moment, Ferrer’s 2016 record stands at a mere 17-9. Having lost prior to the quarterfinals of four consecutive tournaments, Geneva’s second seed was in need of some good fortune and that is exactly what he got on Wednesday. Ferrer trailed Denis Istomin by a set and a break before the Uzbek retired with a back injury while leading 6-3, 3-2. Garcia-Lopez has advanced by taking out Americans Sam Querrey and Rajeev Ram in straight sets. The 32-year-old is 15-14 for the season and is through to his sixth quarterfinal–but he is just 1-4 in five previous quarterfinal matches. Although Ferrer has not defeated a ton of people recently, he has not had too much trouble with Garcia-Lopez.
Pick: Ferrer in 3
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WWW?
Ten Henman has picked Stan to win RG and thinks Stan’s best level on clay can’t be matched by anyone else. haha
hahahahaha
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis/french-open-2016-tim-henman-tips-stanislas-wawrinka-to-reclaim-roland-garros-title-a7034806.html
“In terms of the highest level of tennis that anyone can produce on a clay court I think that Wawrinka’s might be the highest,” Henman said. “When he’s on song I imagine it must be nigh on impossible to play against him given the firepower that he has and the speed he can generate from the back of the court and on serve.
“The challenge for him is the consistency. Whereas Djokovic, for example, plays well nearly all the time, Wawrinka is much more inconsistent. However, I’m sure that he’ll get a lot of positive vibes from last year in coming back as the defending champion.”
As for Nadal, Henman agreed that the Spaniard had been playing some of his best tennis for two years in recent weeks, but is not sure whether his level will be high enough to secure a tenth French Open title. “The standard at the top is always improving,” Henman said. “That’s the reality of the tour at the highest level. If you’re standing still you’re going to get left behind. I think Nadal is playing great tennis, but I think the level has probably gone up at the top of the game.
“I also think the belief of other players has changed when they play him. So many people used to think he was virtually unbeatable on clay, but since he started showing some vulnerability opponents have been going on court thinking that they can cause an upset. Having said that, there’s no doubt that with his track record in Paris he knows how to win there. I definitely wouldn’t be writing him off.”
and sorry for writing Ten Henman. I meant TIM of course haha..
strange view he has on this year’s RG..
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Is that supposed to be a joke? Stan is not winning RG this year!
^^It’s called sour grapes
Yes! LOL!
Well u never know. We wouldn’t have expected Stanimal to win last year. But yeah at this point it’s not looking so good. In my opinion Stan at his best is super tough to beat but Henman may be overdoing. Stan probably does have the most sheer power and clean winners when he’s at his best though. Rafa and Novak of course just have animalistic rallies when they’re on fire and incredible footwork and topspin. It should be really interesting this year to see a resurgent Rafa, Novak hunting for RG yet again, Murray playing career best clay court tennis, and Stan winning Geneva would make things a bit more interesting I think just so we could see he has a bit of form/momentum. Also young guns like Kyrgios and Thiem along with older young guns like Nishikori will make it interesting. Plus the Frenchmen. Especially Monfils. And I’m intrigued to see how Pouille does. As a seed he has a nice shot at a good run. Also if Roger is back to healthy in time that will add to the excitement. The real drama with him will be leading up to it and whether or not he’s fit to play. I really hope he is.
Oh and my picks are Stanimal in straights and ferrer in three. Ferrer should use mental edge to grind through and Stan should power past PCB after an encouraging start against ARV.