Milos Raonic and Lleyton Hewitt will make their 2013 Memphis debuts on Monday. Xavier Malisse and Donald Young are also in first-round action.
(WC) Jack Sock vs. (2) Milos Raonic
This is without question Raonic’s favorite time of year. He is now a three-time champion at the SAP Open and a two-time runner-up at the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships. Raonic lost to Andy Roddick in a thriller of a Memphis final two years ago before being upset by Jurgen Melzer in last year’s title match. Once again he is coming off a triumph in San Jose, where he did not lose a single set for a third consecutive season (12-0 lifetime in matches, 24-0 in sets).
The 14th-ranked Canadian hopes to keep the hot streak going as he returns to the court for a first-ever meeting with Jack Sock on Wednesday. Sock, a 20-year-old American ranked No. 168 in the world, obviously needed a wild card to get into this event. He has six career match wins at the ATP level and is still in search of his first in 2013 after losing to Marinko Matosevic last week in San Jose. Raonic is in awesome form, especially on indoor hard courts, and he has proven that he has no problem making the quick trip from San Jose to Memphis. All signs point to a routine victory for the No. 2 seed.
Pick: Raonic in 2
Yen-Hsun Lu vs. Lleyton Hewitt
Lu and Hewitt will be squaring off for the fifth time in their careers on Wednesday afternoon. The head-to-head series is tied up at two wins apiece and all four previous encounters have come on hard courts. Interestingly enough, they also faced each other in the Memphis first round two years ago–Hewitt prevailed 6-4, 7-6(3). Lu, however, avenged that loss one month later with a 6-2, 6-3 victory in Indian Wells.
Hewitt is slowing down at 31 years old, as the defensive skills which he has relied upon for so long are no longer up to their standard of the past. The veteran Aussie, down at No. 107 in the world in part due to injury, is 3-3 for the season after losing to Sam Querrey in a third-set tiebreaker during second-round action in San Jose. Lu, ranked 72nd, has not played since the Australian Open. Chinese Taipei’s top player could be rusty, so Rusty should have a slight edge.
Pick: Hewitt in 3
(Q) Donald Young vs. Xavier Malisse
Young and Malisse will be doing battle for the first time at the main-draw level on Wednesday. They have met once in qualifying rounds, with Malisse dominating 6-1, 6-2 at the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open. At 32 years old, the Belgian is still playing decent tennis and he registers at 48th in the world. Malisse is a solid 5-3 for his 2013 campaign, which includes quarterfinal appearances in Auckland and San Jose.
At the other end of the career spectrum, Young is toiling all the way down at No. 200 in the world. The 23-year-old American climbed as high as 38th in the rankings early last season, but he has been in dreadful form of late. Young at least did well to qualify in both San Jose (lost to Michael Russell in round one) and Memphis (beat Russell 9-7 in a third-set tiebreaker on Sunday). An upset is not out of the question, but Malisse should advance in straight sets.
Pick: Malisse in 2
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