Three of the four Houston semifinalists are former champions of this event. The only exception is Feliciano Lopez, who is facing Juan Monaco on Saturday. Meanwhile, John Isner and Jack Sock are set for an all-American affair.
(1) John Isner vs. (4) Jack Sock
Isner and Sock will be squaring off for the seventh time in their careers when they battle for a spot in the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship final on Saturday. The head-to-head series stands at 4-2 in favor of Isner, who has prevailed in both of their previous clay-court meetings. Not too surprisingly, one of those showdowns on the slow stuff progressed to a third-set tiebreaker, and it came at this same Houston event in 2013. Isner survived 7-5, 6-7(3), 7-6(3). The 6’10” American was once 3-0 lifetime at Sock’s expense, but his younger countryman has taken two of the last three contests after most recently getting the job done 7-6(5), 6-3 this past fall in Basel.
The defending champion of this tournament, Sock is through to another semifinal thanks to straight-set victories this week over Matthew Barton and Marcos Baghdatis. Isner, the 2013 Houston trophy winner, has also advanced with a pair of straight-set wins–but he needed three tiebreakers in total to get past Denis Kudla and Hyeon Chung. The top seed has not yet been broken, but he fought off seven break points against Chung after facing none against Kudla. Whereas Isner certainly has not been at his best this week, Sock–who won 25 of 27 first-serve points at Baghdatis’ expense–is in complete control of his game.
Pick: Sock in 3
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(3) Feliciano Lopez vs. Juan Monaco
Lopez and Monaco will also be facing each other for the seventh time in their careers and for the first time in almost three full years when they meet again on Saturday. The head-to-head series stands at 4-2 in Lopez’s favor, but one of his victories came via first-set retirement and the two veterans have split a pair of clay-court encounters. Monaco prevailed 6-4, 7-5 at the 2009 Madrid Masters before the Spaniard got the job done by the exact same score two seasons later in Belgrade. They most recently collided on the grass courts of Eastbourne in 2013, when Lopez scored a 6-4, 6-4 victory.
Making his way back from a wrist injury, Monaco is in the midst of by far his best week in 2016. The 148th-ranked Argentine booked a spot in the semifinals by defeating Gerald Melzer, Benoit Paire, and Sam Querrey. Monaco has won his last five sets without even requiring a tiebreaker. Lopez got an opening-round bye as the third seed before taking care of Lukas Lacko and Tim Smyczek in straight sets. The world No. 24 is still a relatively disappointing 10-7 for the year. Clay should give a slight advantage to Monaco, who is clearly increasing in confidence as he gets more and more matches under his belt.
Pick: Monaco in 3
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who ya got?
I think both of these matches are practically 50-50 matchups. I’m gonna take Feli and sock in three sets.
No idea.. so I tossed a coin and it said isner and Lopez
Agree, it looks like Jack Sock will be in complete control of the game.
yup