Fabio Fognini will be right back in action after finishing runner-up in Munich when he takes the court on Tuesday in Madrid against Alexandr Dolgopolov. Ernests Gulbis and Jerzy Janowicz are also bidding for a spot in the second round.
(13) Fabio Fognini vs. Alexandr Dolgopolov
Fognini and Dolgopolov will be doing battle for the fifth time in their careers at the ATP level when they clash in round one of the Mutua Madrid Open on Tuesday. Dolgopolov has won all four of those previous encounters, including two this season. The Ukrainian dominated 6-1, 6-1 on the clay courts of Rio de Janeiro and scored a 6-2, 6-4 victory at the Indian Wells Masters. He also won 6-2, 6-4 at the 2012 clay-court event in Munich. Fognini has at least beat his opponent once before, having won 7-5, 6-3 at a clay-court Challenger tournament back in 2007.
Dolgopolov’s solid 19-11 record this year is highlighted by a third-round Indian Wells upset of Rafael Nadal. The world No. 22 went on to reach the semifinals and also the quarters in Miami, but he is a modest 1-2 during the current red-dirt swing. Fognini is coming off a runner-up showing last week in Munich, where he had a meltdown in Sunday’s title match against Martin Klizan. The 15th-ranked Italian is 26-9 for his 2014 campaign, with two runner-ups and a title in Vina del Mar. Players rarely get more unpredictable than Fognini and Dolgopolov, but Dolgopolov may have an edge being more well-rested and based on his past success in this matchup.
Pick: Dolgopolov in 3
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Ernests Gulbis vs. Jerzy Janowicz
Janowicz went into 2014 with a foot injury and he has not been able to get on track. The world No. 21–still ranked that high because of Wimbledon semifinal points from last summer–has been especially ice cold since mid-February. In fact, he has not won a match since beating Tommy Haas in the Rotterdam second round. Janowicz lost openers in Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo, and Barcelona while winning only a single set in the process. He also dropped two lower-level Davis Cup singles rubbers against Croatia (although one was a five-setter versus Marin Cilic).
Janowicz will look to stop the slide in his Madrid opener with Gulbis, against whom the Pole is 2-1 lifetime at the ATP level and 3-2 overall. They have faced each other only once on clay, when Janowicz pocketed a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 win at a 2012 Challenger event in Rome. They most recently squared off last fall on the indoor hard courts of Stockholm, where Gulbis advanced to the semifinals via a 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 decision. The 20th-ranked Latvian is a stellar 18-8 for the year, which includes a title in Marseille, a quarterfinal finish in Indian Wells, and a recent semifinal performance in Barcelona. With a massive edge in current form and confidence, this should be one-way traffic for Gulbis.
Pick: Gulbis in 2
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wow…just wow…
Maybe Stan’s saving himself for RG, who knows………………
LOL…he started saving himself a little too early, don’t you think… 😀
The upset of the tournament. Thiem maybe 20 years old but looks more like a 16yr old schoolboy. He has all the tools. They just need honing.
I love that Dom broke Stan to win the match, that shows nerves of steel, poise. Solid BH once he broke out of his shell. FH’s a littke loose but nothing a good coach cannot right. Good attitude on court too, no histrionics, plays with “colm”
Vamos Dom!!
That half of the draw is wide open now.
So, who’s left in the bottom half? It’s wide, wide open………….
When I first saw the draw, I hoped that Thiem might just come up with the goods and show Stan the door………and he has.
There are only 70 points now separating Fed and Stan in the rankings.
Hahaha! Tiggy, you rock!
RT @SteveTignor: “Thiem upsets Wawrinka 6-4 in 3rd. (*Hastily deletes 1/2-written post about how Stan is now part of the Big 4*) #MutuaMadridOpen”
^^^ 😀 😀 😀
I don’t care about whre Stan’s at in the rankings. Just want all the pundits who were rushing to anoint him the second coming to eat humble pie. At least Tiggy’s sense of humour’s intact and he does just that!
This is a reality check for Stan. Now hopefully people will pull back on all the over the top predictions for him during the clay season.
congrats to Fed and Mirka…I’m so happy for them…great BIG family…wonderful news…at least two of his four will play tennis if not all of them… 🙂
They can play doubles with each other :-).
WaWa’s team were on edge and looking glum from around midway through 2nd set. Norman in particular didn’t seem confident Stan was going to pull out the win.
I think Stan fell into the trap of believing all the hype since AO and made the fatal error of underestimating his opponent, particularly after winning the 1st so easily.
WOW. 2 sets of twins for Roger and Mirka? that’s insane. Not gonna question their family planning methods just say Congrats!!!
Angelina Jolie will be SO jealous… 😀
I do think that there is something to be said for Stan maybe believing the hype. It is entirely possible that he did underestimate Thiem. One can get complacent if one isn’t careful.
It reminds me of how Rafa never takes any opponent for granted. He’s smart that way. 😉
The bottom line is Stan needs a new pair of boots. He’d gotten a bit too big for the present pair.
@ed,
Well said! 🙂
This is when Stan shows us what he is made of……..
“If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster. And treat those two impostors just the same;. …….”
Wow! Madrid’s heating up nicely….
Hopefully setting it up for the King of Clay to retain the title on Sunday!
Dimi might stretch Rafa, if they both make the Qtrs. Berdy is 0:2 against Dimi so I don’t expect him to make the Qtrs.
I have Berdy falling to Anderson tomorrow;
Tsonga falling to Santiago Giraldo;
Dolgo falling to the Gulbinator;
Gilles Simon falling to Kubot;
The rest, the seedings to prevail.
honestly, I don’t like seeing Dimitrov facing Rafa, not just yet…if there were different times I wouldn’t worry but I am still not aware of how ready Rafa will be…and knowing that this is his least favorite clay tourney it’s difficult for me to have high expectations …and I shall not think ahead…one match at the time…that’s what I learned from Rafa 😉
I am nervous about Rafa facing Dimitrov, but for all we know this may just be what he needs to get himself going again. But I agree about taking it one match at a time and dealing with it when/if it happens.
It’s time for Rafa to start getting tested, the road to RG starts tomorrow…………..
true, but my heart is not ready for those tests… 🙂 and my nerves could benefit enormously from some easy straight set wins of Rafa…
Don’t worry, the real Rafa’s in Madrid….not the Madrid bus driver, lol!
@ nativenewyorker7:
May 6, 2014 at 9:40 pm
I agree…Stan went easy with the first set and had already seen himself having a nice bath…but the youngster had different plans and refused to hand it over…great tennis from the Austrian…I read his favorite surface is clay… 😉