Houston R2 previews and picks: Querrey vs. Johnson, Lopez vs. Groth

Steve Johnson will contest his second all-American match of the week when he goes up against Sam Querrey on Wednesday in Houston. Feliciano Lopez and Sam Groth are also in second-round action.

Steve Johnson vs. (8) Sam Querrey

It will be a battle between fellow Americans and occasional doubles partners when Querrey and Johnson square off in round two of the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship on Wednesday. Querrey leads the head-to-head series 2-0 and has won all four of his sets against Johnson. The world No. 42 prevailed 7-6(3), 7-5 last summer in Atlanta before winning another hard-court meeting 6-4, 6-3 a few weeks later in Winston-Salem.

Querrey’s tournament got off to a remarkably routine start on Monday when Marinko Matosevic retired five games into their match. The No. 8 seed is still just 5-7 for the season but he ended a three-match losing streak with a victory in Miami before losing to Kevin Anderson in a tight three-setter. Johnson scored an impressive 7-5, 6-4 victory over Donald Young in round one. The world No. 52 has been in stellar form this season with a 13-8 record that includes three quarterfinals and a third-round showing in Indian Wells. Johnson may be playing well, but head-to-head history and the clay-court surface should tip the scale in Querrey’s favor.

Pick: Querrey in 2

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(1) Feliciano Lopez vs. Sam Groth

Lopez did not initially enter Houston, but he asked for–and got–a late wild card and suddenly finds himself as the top seed at one of this spring’s first clay-court tournaments. The 33-year-old Spaniard lost early in Miami after a high-quality clash with Dominic Thiem, but his 2015 campaign also features a fourth-round performance at the Australian Open, a runner-up finish in Quito, and a quarterfinal run at the Indian Wells Masters.

Whereas Lopez earned  first-round  bye, Groth played his way into a first-ever meeting with the world No. 12 by beating Quito champion Victor Estrella Burgos 7-6(3), 6-4. Thus a Lopez-Estrella Burgos rematch was prevented by the 93rd-ranked Aussie, who is 6-9 at the ATP level this year. Groth fired 17 aces and did not drop serve a single time. But he will have to serve better than 59 percent this time around, because Lopez is in fine form and is far more experienced and accomplished than Groth on clay.

Pick: Lopez in 2

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