Madrid third round
(1) Rafael Nadal vs. Jarkko Nieminen: Nadal in 2. Nadal is 17-1 lifetime in total sets against Nieminen. Not much is going to change–especially not on clay.
(12) Grigor Dimitrov vs. (6) Tomas Berdych: Dimitrov in 3. Dimitrov leads the head-to-head series 2-0 and he is much-improved since the previous times they faced each other. Clay also should favor the Bulgarian.
(LL) Lukasz Kubot vs. Roberto Bautista Agut: Bautista Agut in 2. On one hand Kubot’s luck as lucky loser has continued with an unseeded opponent in the third round of a Masters event. Playing an in-form Bautista Agut on the road in Spain and on clay, however, will not be fun.
(Q) Santiago Giraldo vs. (7) Andy Murray: Giraldo in 3. Murray got past a less-than-100 percent Nicolas Almagro, but he was not inspiring. Giraldo is playing the best tennis of his career and clay obviously gives him his best–and only–opportunity in this matchup.
(8) Milos Raonic vs. (10) Kei Nishikori: Nishikori in 2. Based on their respective forms, only grass could save Raonic in this one. Nishikori is one of the best players on tour at the moment.
Feliciano Lopez vs. (Q) Dominic Thiem: Thiem in 3. Thiem may not be consistent enough to finish the job in straight sets, but the discrepancy in talent will be too much for Lopez to overcome. Although the Spaniard is at home, he is not at his best on clay.
(5) David Ferrer vs. (9) John Isner: Ferrer in 3. Amazingly enough, Isner is actually 0-3 against Ferrer on U.S. hard courts. This match, of course, is taking place in the exact opposite setting: in Spain and on clay. Still, Isner will make it tough on the No. 5 seed.
Ernests Gulbis vs. Marin Cilic: Gulbis in 3. Gulbis probably should win this in straights, based on the surface. But there a lot of things Gulbis should do that he doesn’t. Look for him to get a win after making it harder than necessary.
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I guess this is like the summary of all matches for the day. I didn’t see a specific preview for Thiem/Lopez on the other thread. Just the voting option. I picked Thiem in three sets over Lopez.
I also agree about Murray not getting past Giraldo. I do think he was fortunate to get the win against an Almagro who was struggling with that foot injury. I would love to see Murray get it going, but I just think this is going to be too tough on clay.
I already gave my predictions on the other thread for Rafa in two sets over Niemenin and Dimitrov in three sets over Berdy. So I agree with Ricky.
I also agree with RBA in two sets over Kubot and Nishi in two sets over Raonic. I also agree and already picked Gulbis over Berdy in three sets, along with Ferrer in three sets. I didn’t realize the h2h was 3-0 in favor of Ferrer against Isner.
Murray for the win, as long as he isn’t driven to distraction by Giraldo’s practice swings while waiting to receive serve and the gruesome grunts* and shrieks.
*described by some witty poster the other day as sounding like labour pains ?
Gotta fancy Thiem’s chances today. His confidence is growing steadily and the win against Stan must be a huge boost. Lopez is playing in his own back yard but unlike most of the Spanish Armada, clay is not his best surface.
I’m sticking my neck out and saying Thiem in 2
^^^apologies to Ricky. Just spotted you had already pointed out clay is not Feli’s best surface.
Ferrer in 2 – based on watching Isner’s uphill struggle against Matsovic.
Agree with Ricky’s picks except the following:
Berdy/Dimi, I am picking Berdy;
Ferru/Izzy, I am picking Izzy.
Why hello, Grisha schooling Berdy here……………….
I’m waiting for Berdy to lose his cool with the unruly bunch of Dimi supporters who are heckling him unmercifully.
set Berdych
Hard to call this match now.
Dimi not managing to break back settles it.
Berd for the win.
Rafa-Berd
^^^^Can you see any reason why Berdych will bring the losing streak to an end?
Berdy won? Congratulations to me!
Seriously though, I was dreading a Rafa/Dimi match simply because these young ‘uns just want to have that feather in their caps: beating Rafa. With Berdy, there are no surprises…………….*touch wood*
Vamos Rafa!
Cilic doesn’t stand a chance with a 1st serve @ 35% against most players let alone Gulbis who is playing well this week.
Just saw the Muzza/Giraldo match. Not surprised, went as expected for me. Also see that Ernie is 1 set and a break up on Cilic, expect Ernie to close this.
Have you seen the Andy thread? Deucy has jumped ship.
@ed,
I tried desperately to get her to stay.
What happened to young Thiem? I see Feli has a w/o……………………
Rafa’s on in the afternoon again tomorrow. He must requested afternoon matches………….
Rafa likes the sun and the dryer the court the better. I’m also thinking it’s better for the Spanish audience to have an afternoon match…long lunch/siesta/Rafa match. Very disappointed about Thiem…I really wanted to see that one.
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Yeah, curious about young Thiem……………
illness
It’s a shame. I thought he had a fighting chance again Feli.
Ferrer draws first blood!
And takes the first set. They dont call him ‘the terrier’ for nothing.
until the last game when he was serving for the set he had won 100% point on his first serve.
D. FERRERJ. ISNER
6 – 4
Aces31
Double Faults01
First Serve In84%69%
Total Serves3126
1st Serve Points Won16/26 (62%)16/18 (89%)
2nd Serve Points Won3/5 (60%)5/7 (71%)
Total Points Won24/57 (42%)33/57 (58%)
Break Points Won0/2 (0%)1/5 (20%)
Total Winners12/20 (60%)8/20 (40%)
Unforced Errors12/17 (71%)5/17 (29%)
Net Points Won1/6 (17%)5/6 (83%)
Net Points Played37
Forehand Winners63
Backhand Winners12
Forehand Unforced70
Backhand Unforced44
Looks like Ferru’s re-discovering his form after the Barcelona debacle. He’s got a tricky patch though, Gulbis next and then Nishikori possibly………..
Well done Ferru!!!!
Congratulation to me for predicting Ferru in straight sets.
He was in awesome form tonight and left Isner floundering.
Looked to be back to his annoying best, snapping at Izzy at every turn………….
Impressive win by Daveed. I was marveling at how early he was taking John’s first serves. He was standing inside the baseline on some of those returns. Incredible.
I thought that it would take three sets for Ferrer to get the win, but he came out playing like a pitbull and just took it to Isner. It was obvious that Isner simply could not hang with him from the baseline. Ferrer’s serving stats are quite impressive. He seems to be rebounding from the Barcelona loss.
He will have some tough matches ahead. Nishi is playing some outstanding tennis right now and Gulbis is always dangerous when he’s on. I thought the Gulbis/Cilic match would go three sets and be competitive, but that was not the case.
I picked Giraldo to beat Murray but I did not expect it to be such a straightforward two set win. I got RBA and Nishi right.
The one I got wrong was Dimitrov beating Berdy. The Bird man played well to get that three set win. The other winners I got right, but not always the number of sets.
We have some potentially good quarterfinal matches coming up.