Benoit Paire, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and David Ferrer are all coming off big first-round wins in Madrid. Paire now has a Wednesday date with good friend Stan Wawrinka, while Tsonga and Ferrer are facing each other for a place in the last 16.
(3) Stan Wawrinka vs. Benoit Paire
Wawrinka and Paire will be colliding for the 10th time in their careers when they meet again on Wednesday during round-two action at the Mutua Madrid Open. The head-to-head series stands at 7-2 in favor of Wawrinka, who is 2-0 at Paire’s expense on red clay after most recently prevailing 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 last spring in Rome. The third-ranked Swiss has won five of their last six encounters dating back to 2015, with his lone blemish in this span coming via a 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 decision in the 2016 Marseille quarterfinals.
Wawrinka’s opener this week was expected to come against a red-hot Pablo Carreno Busta, but Paire had other ideas. Two of the ironmen on tour who play just about every single week, Carreno Busta and Paire battled on Tuesday and it was the Frenchman who pulled off a 6-3, 6-4 upset. The world No. 52 is now 15-13 at the ATP level this season and he also finished runner-up at a clay-court Challenger event in France last month. Wawrinka is a decent 15-6 in 2017 with a semifinal showing at the Australian Open and a runner-up finish at the Indian Wells Masters. Outside of those results, however, he has not done much and recently lost to Alexander Zverev (Miami fourth round) and Pablo Cuevas (Monte-Carlo third round). This is likely to be roller-coaster affair with the two good friends both up and down of late, but Wawrinka should be able to dictate most of the rallies with his one-handed backhand and expose the Paire forehand.
Pick: Wawrinka in 3
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David Ferrer vs. (10) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Tsonga vs. Ferrer is a rematch of a 2013 French Open semifinal, which Ferrer dominated 6-1, 7-6(3), 6-2 before finishing runner-up to Rafael Nadal. Surprisingly, the two veterans have not faced each other a single time since that showdown. Thus Ferrer still leads the head-to-head series 3-1, including 1-0 on clay (6-4, 6-1 at the 2010 Rome Masters).
It goes without saying that this not a potential preview of another Roland Garros semifinal in 2017. In fact, both players have to be overjoyed simply at finding themselves in the Madrid second round. Ferrer had been a horrendous 5-8 this season before overcoming qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin 2-6, 7-6(1), 6-4 on Monday. Tsonga is a solid 18-5 in 2017 after beating Andrey Kuznetsov 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 7-5 in round one, but he has been relatively inactive due to the recent birth of his first child and he lost his opening matches in Indian Wells (Fabio Fognini) and Monte-Carlo (Adrian Mannarino). Three years Ferrer’s junior at 32, Tsonga has more left in the tank and he wields far more firepower–a factor that will likely be decisive in the high altitude of Madrid.
Pick: Tsonga in 2
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WWW?
I think this is where I expect Stan to step it up after being lackluster thus far. Paire is so unpredictable and Stan should be the more consistent player in this match with his one-handed backhand doing the damage. If Stan plays the way he is capable of doing on clay, then he should win in 2 sets.
Tsonga should benefit from the court conditions with his serve and forehand. Ferrer had to battle to get past Kukushin. I think Tsonga gets the win in 2 sets.
Tsonga in three Stan in two
I went with Ferrer in 3
Stan in 2
I like Stan in 2 and Ferrer (comfortable in Madrid!) in 2.
Stan in three.
Tsonga in three ,slight edge with the conditions.
Tennis TV 7 minutes ago:”BREAKING: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has withdrawn from the MMOPEN with a right shoulder injury.”
Stan was cruising and has now totally lost the plot. Damnit Stan