The top two seeds in Metz may have their hands full when they take the court for quarterfinal action on Friday. Stan Wawrinka is facing Philipp Kohlschreiber and Gilles Simon is going up against Gilles Muller.
(1) Stan Wawrinka vs. (5) Philipp Kohlschreiber
Wawrinka and Kohlschreiber will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers and for the first time since 2008 when they clash in the quarterfinals of the Moselle Open on Friday. Their two previous encounters came seven years ago, when Wawrinka prevailed 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 at Roland Garros and 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(5) at the Madrid Masters (played on indoor hard courts at that time). Speaking of third-set tiebreakers, the top-seeded Swiss survived one in his opening match on Thursday; he outlasted Dustin Brown 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4). Wawrinka, who is coming off a semifinal showing at the U.S. Open and a five-set Davis Cup win over Thiemo De Bakker, is 43-13 on the year.
It has already been a productive–and routine–week for Kohlschreiber. The 33rd-ranked German beat John Millman 7-6(5), 6-3 and ousted Paolo Lorenzi 6-3, 6-3. Thus continues a fine run of form for Kohlschreiber, who is 11-2 in his last 13 matches. This stretch includes a title on the clay courts of Kitzbuhel. Although Wawrinka has also been winning his fair share of recent matches, he has been far from dominant. This is a great opportunity for a confident Kohlschreiber to pick up a top-five victory.
Pick: Kohlschreiber in 3
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Gilles Muller vs. (2) Gilles Simon
At 10th in the rankings and No. 14 in the 2015 race, Simon is an outside contender for at least an alternate spot at the World Tour Finals. He will have to do a lot more than capture a 250-point title in order to put himself in position, but success in Metz would not hurt. The No. 2 seed got off to a strong start following a first-round bye in the form of a 6-4, 6-2 thrashing of Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
Up next for Simon is a second career ATP-level meeting with Muller. The Frenchman got the job done 4-6, 7-6(1), 6-3 last fall in Tokyo. These two veterans also faced each other way back in 2004, when Muller scored a 6-1, 7-5 win on the Challenger circuit. Muller has advanced this week by taking out Aljaz Bedene and Fernando Verdasco in three sets–the latter in two tiebreakers. The 45th-ranked Luxembourgian is a stellar 28-19 for the season despite losing his openers at the Cincinnati Masters and the U.S. Open. Simon should benefit from playing at home to thwart Muller’s big serve with his own outstanding return game.
Pick: Simon in 3
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Stan and muller both in two really tight sets
Reblogged this on Tennis Abides.
Stanimal and Simon
Stan withdraws ?
what happened
‘True/real’ tennis fans obviously don’t know. I (a Rafa fan) found this tweet:
https://twitter.com/MoselleOpen/status/647392708080766977/photo/1
Click on the time/date of the tweet and then “View translation.”
Kohlshrieber on a roll….I like him in 3 tough sets, and Simone in 3 as well.
Dreadlocks ran WaWa ragged last night. He has lost interest in fighting for 250 points.
There are bigger fish to catch in the coming weeks.
Sprained ankle.
Hawkeye63: For real?
Yes that’s what I read.
ed251137 ( at 7:52 am),
Isn’t the tweet I posted (September 25, 2015 at 5:43 pm) visible to you?
Was that one about getting rid of Autocorrect? If so yes, I did and it has worked by following that link.
Apologies. Very remiss of me not to acknowledge it and thank you 🙁
From now on, assume any mistakes are typos.
ed251137 ( at 9:27 am),
I meant the tweet about Wawa’s withdrawal (above).
As for Autocorrect, I’m glad you resolved it. 🙂
Yes, I did see the tweet. I also watched the match. Which is why I remain sceptical.
He is scheduled to play: two Masters and two 500s, followed by WTF and Davis Cup.
#Bigger fish to catch
ed251137 ( at 7:18 am),
—He [Wawrinka] is scheduled to play:…followed by WTF and Davis Cup.—
============
.
Switzerland will play its next Davis Cup tie in March 2016.
I stand corrected!
Dreddy should have won. Brown-Kohli rematch would have been great.
True. Brown had him and last time didn’t kohl win like 16-14 in third set breaker?