Hamburg R3 previews and picks: Kohlschreiber vs. Simon, Robredo vs. Rosol

A quartet of veterans will be part of a jam-packed day of third-round action in Hamburg. Included on Thursday’s schedule is Philipp Kohlschreiber vs. Gilles Simon and Tommy Robredo vs. Lukas Rosol.

(7) Philipp Kohlschreiber vs. (12) Gilles Simon

Three days and two full rounds into the bet-at-home Open, Simon still has not played a match this week. The Frenchman earned a first-round bye as one of the 16 seeds and he got a walkover from Martin Klizan on Wednesday. For Simon, he will take advancement at a tournament any way he can get it right now. The 29-year-old is just 14-15 on the season and down at No. 38 in the world. But he has not lost an opening match at an event since Monte-Carlo (eight events ago).

Third-round action on Thursday will pit Simon against Kohlschreiber for the sixth time in their careers. Simon leads the head-to-head series 4-1, but all five of their previous encounters have come on hard courts. Kohlschreiber, although not a specialist on any surface, will prefer clay in this matchup and he is also playing at home in Germany. The world No. 26 kicked off his week on Wednesday with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Gastao Elias that improved his 2014 record to 27-16. Simon will be rested, but he has not yet gotten used to the court or conditions in Hamburg. All signs other than past history against his opponent point to a Kohlschreiber win.

Pick: Kohlschreiber in 2

[polldaddy poll=8189465]

Lukas Rosol vs. (3) Tommy Robredo

Rosol and Robredo will be squaring off for the fourth time in their careers (third at the ATP level) and for the second time this season when they clash in the Hamburg third round on Thursday. Robredo has won all three of their previous meetings, including a 6-1, 6-7(7), 3-6, 7-6(5), 8-6 thriller earlier this year in the Australian Open first round. The veteran Spaniard also prevailed 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 in round one of the 2010 U.S. Open and 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-4 at the 2012 Genova Challenger (their only previous clay-court collision).

It has already been a stellar post-Wimbledon stretch for Rosol, who finished runner-up to Roberto Bautista Agut last week in Stuttgart and so far in Hamburg has taken out Julian Reister and Joao Sousa in straight sets. Following a first-round bye, Robredo took care of Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-2, 7-5. The world No. 21 is a modest 21-14 for the year and a disappointing 12-10 on clay. This may not be Robredo at his best, but his consistent baseline play has always been tough on Rosol and the No. 3 seed will enjoy contesting this one on the slow stuff.

Pick: Robredo in 3

[polldaddy poll=8189153]