Hamburg R2 previews and picks: Granollers vs. Thiem, Giraldo vs. Paire

Dominic Thiem and Benoit Paire will continue their Hamburg campaigns on Tuesday. They are set for respective meetings with seeds Marcel Granollers and Santiago Giraldo.

(8) Marcel Granollers vs. Dominic Thiem

Granollers and Thiem will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers and for the second time on clay this season when they do battle in round two of the bet-at-home Open on Tuesday. Their only previous encounter came a few months ago in Barcelona, where Thiem prevailed 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. The 20-year-old Austrian was red hot at that point in his 2014 campaign, but he cooled off at the end of the clay-court swing and went 0-2 on grass. However, Thiem seemed to get back in a groove by crushing fellow up-and-comer Jiri Vesely 7-5, 6-0 on Monday.

Granollers earned a first-round bye as the No. 8 seed and 28th-ranked player in the world. Highlights for the 28-year-old Spaniard this season include a runner-up showing in Casablanca and a fourth-round performance at the French Open. Granollers is coming off a five-set loss to Giraldo in the Wimbledon second round. Although he is more than capable on the red stuff, Granollers would likely prefer to face Thiem on a faster surface in order to implement his all-court game. On this court, Thiem has time to set up for his huge groundstrokes and can stay at the baseline while blasting away. The youngster’s confidence on this surface has to be sky-high right now in the not-too-distant aftermath of third-round finishes (as a qualifier) in both Barcelona and Madrid.

Pick: Thiem in 3

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(11) Santiago Giraldo vs. Benoit Paire

Paire’s 2014 campaign has not gone according to plan after what was a stellar season in 2013. The world No. 89 has plunged down the rankings due in most part to a knee problem and he is just 7-12 at the ATP level for the year. Paire, though, is at least showing some signs of life. The Frenchman advanced one round at Roland Garros and he at least played Lukas Rosol tough in a Wimbledon opener. On Monday, Paire battled past Andrey Golubev 1-6, 6-1, 7-6(4) for one of his few wins since beating Nick Kyrgios at the Australian Open.

Up next for Paire in Hamburg is Giraldo, against whom the former world No. 24 is 1-1 lifetime. Their only previous ATP main-draw meeting came last fall on the indoor hard courts of Stockholm, where Paire scored a 6-4, 6-4 victory. Giraldo got the best of a 2011 Paris Masters qualifying matchup via a 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-4 decision. The 32nd-ranked Colombian is 22-17 on the year, which includes one brilliant clay-court surge (Houston semifinals, Barcelona runner-up, Madrid quarterfinals). On this surface, Giraldo will likely finagle his way into far too many extended baseline rallies for Paire’s liking.

Pick: Giraldo in 2

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