David Goffin will hope to keep his 2016 hot streak going when he takes the court against dangerous grass-courter Sergiy Stakhovsky in the Halle second round on Thursday. The winner will likely advance to a quarterfinal clash with Roger Federer, who is first facing Malek Jaziri.
(1) Roger Federer vs. Malek Jaziri
Federer and Jaziri will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers when they collide in round two of the Gerry Weber Open on Thursday. Their only previous encounter came three years ago on the hard courts of Dubai, where Federer erased a set deficit to prevail 5-7, 6-0, 6-2. Jaziri is once again facing Federer at one of the Swiss’ favorite tournaments, as he is 45-2 in his last 47 matches (52-5 overall) with eight titles. The top seed and defending champion bounced back from a Stuttgart semifinal setback at the hands of Dominic Thiem to beat Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 7-6(3) on Wednesday.
Jaziri booked his spot in the last 16 by knocking out Ricardas Berankis 7-5, 6-4 on Tuesday. The 64th-ranked Tunisian is a mediocre 7-11 at the ATP level and he is coming off a clay-court swing that included a quarterfinal run in Barcelona and a second-round showing at the French Open. Jaziri is not a complete novice on grass, but he would prefer to contest this matchup on any other surface. Federer will likely improve with each match this week and the result should be a straight-set dismissal of the underdog.
Pick: Federer in 2 losing 5-7 games
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(Q) Sergiy Stakhovsky vs. (5) David Goffin
At Roland Garros, Goffin came within one win (against Thiem in the quarterfinals) of reaching the top 10 (No. 7) for the first time in his career. The world No. 11 has another chance for a breakthrough in Halle, but he will have to capture the title in order to pass 10th-ranked Richard Gasquet. Goffin in 27-11 for the year, which is also highlighted by back-to-back semifinal finishes in Indian Wells and Miami. After taking a week off following his productivity in Paris, the fifth seed scraped past Borna Coric 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 6-4 on Tuesday.
Up next for Goffin is a third career meeting with Stakhovsky, who trails the head-to-head series 2-0. The Ukrainian dropped a Davis Cup rubber 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 in 2014 before going down to the Belgian 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in round one of this season’s Australian Open. Stakhovsky should, however, have a better chance on grass. The world No. 100 advanced to the Wimbledon third round on consecutive occasions in 2013 (upset Federer) and 2014. He qualified and reached the second round in Stuttgart last week and has now accomplished the exact same feat in Halle. Once again, though, Stakhovsky’s net-rushing tendencies will be target practice for an expert counter-puncher and ball-striker like Goffin.
Pick: Goffin in 3
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Fed and Goffin, probably straight sets and pretty routine.
I agree about Fed winning easily, most likely losing only 5-7 games.
Goffin should beat Staks, probably in 2 sets.
Goffin in two but that’s no easy matchup and fed in two losing five to seven games
From what I gathered from live rankings, Goffin actually would just have to make the final to crack top 10 and if he did he could be as high as number 8 and with the title as high as number 7.
Don’t think this is the right thread but anyone not watching the Thiem-Gabasvilli match should tune in. Exciting tennis to watch.
Well it WAS exciting but after losing a tightly fought first set Gabashvili has folded in the second set.
Interesting response by Thiem to the fairly widely held view he is in danger of overplaying:
“I prefer to play matches than putting in the hours on the practice courts…….”