Gstaad R1 previews and predictions: Monaco vs. Brown, Verdasco vs. Zeballos

An intriguing first-rounder between Juan Monaco and Dustin Brown is on tap for Tuesday in Gstaad. Meanwhile, Fernando Verdasco is going up against fellow left-hander Horacio Zeballos.

Dustin Brown vs. Juan Monaco

Monaco and Brown will be going head-to-head for the first time in 13 years when they finally meet again in round one of the Swiss Open on Tuesday. Their only previous encounters came at a pair of Jamaica-based Futures events in 2003, when Monaco dominated 6-0, 6-1 before Brown got revenge in the form of a second-set retirement while leading 6-3, 6-1. Of course, those results obviously have to relevancy to the current situation. Fast forward to 2016 and both veterans are still going relatively strong in their 30s. Monaco has been plagued by wrist problems, but he is back in the top 100 at No. 94 in the world thanks in part to a quarterfinal performance in Rome. The 32-year-old Argentine, who reached the second round of both the French Open and Wimbledon, is a respectable 12-8 at the ATP level for his 2016 campaign.

Brown also advanced to the last 64 at Roland Garros (as a qualifier) and at the All-England Club–where he fell to Nick Kyrgios in an entertaining and lightning-quick five-setter. The 99th-ranked German is coming off a relatively productive week on the clay courts of Bastad, where he made a run to the quarterfinals in singles and reached the doubles semis with Rameez Junaid. Although Brown is no slouch on the slow stuff, he would obviously rather contest this one on grass or a fast hard court. Monaco’s ability to extend points on this surface should make the difference in his favor.

Pick: Monaco in 3

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(6) Fernando Verdasco vs. Horacio Zeballos

Verdasco and Zeballos will be squaring off for the fourth time in their careers and for the first time since a dramatic and somewhat contentious showdown earlier this season in Miami. Zeballos got a lucky-loser spot in the main draw in place of Roger Federer, beat Juan Martin Del Potro in the second round, and then outlasted Verdasco 1-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) to punch a ticket to the last 16. Verdasco still leads the head-to-head series 2-1, having prevailed 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 on the clay of Rome in 2013 and 7-5, 7-5 one year later at the Indian Wells Masters.

Zeballos has cooled off in a major way since his Miami run; in fact, the 73rd-ranked Argentine is 0-8 at the ATP level in 2016 aside from his aforementioned victories over Del Potro and Verdasco. He at least managed to win a Challenger title earlier this month in Bastad, but in the same city’s ATP tournament last week he got clobbered by Taro Daniel 6-4, 6-2 in round one. Verdasco advanced to the Bastad title match before falling to fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas. The world No. 47 is a decent 22-15 at the ATP level this season with a title in Bucharest, and his quest for another winner’s trophy at a 250-point event on the red stuff should get off to a routine start.

Pick: Verdasco in 2

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