Seeds Jerzy Janowicz and David Goffin will be looking for quarterfinal spots when they take the court in Metz on Thursday. Standing in their respective ways are Jarkko Nieminen and Tobias Kamke.
(7) Jerzy Janowicz vs. Jarkko Nieminen
Janowicz and Nieminen will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers and for the second time this year when they do battle in round two of the Moselle Open on Thursday. Their only previous meeting came at the French Open, where Janowicz scored a 7-6(4), 7-6(4), 6-4 victory. That halted an extended slump for the 40th-ranked Pole, who is still struggling but also winning some matches at the same time. He advanced to the Cincinnati third round, was runner-up in Winston-Salem, and reached the second round at the U.S. Open. Janowicz opened in Metz on Tuesday with a 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 win over Adrian Mannarino.
Nieminen booked his spot in the last 16 by rolling over Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-1, 6-4 on Tuesday. The 33-year-old Finn is coming off a mediocre summer in which he lost to David Goffin in the final of a clay-court Challenger and in the third round of the Winston-Salem Open. Nieminen, who is an even 22-22 at the ATP level this season, fell to Ivo Karlovic in the U.S. Open first round. He will outclass Janowicz from the baseline, but a fast indoor hard court should help the No. 7 seed power his way to a victory.
Pick: Janowicz in 3
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Tobias Kamke vs. (8) David Goffin
Kamke and Goffin will be squaring off for the first time in a main draw on Thursday. They faced each other last year in Montreal qualifying with Goffin prevailing 6-4, 7-5 before Kamke exacted a measure of revenge with a 6-1, 6-4 qualifying win this summer on the grass courts of Eastbourne. Neither man had any real trouble booking his spot in the Metz second round. Kamke took care of Kenny De Schepper 6-3, 7-6(5) on Tuesday and Goffin crushed Florent Serra 6-2, 6-2 on Wednesday.
Current form, though, is decidedly in Goffin’s favor. The 45th-ranked Belgian won 25 matches in a row this summer, a stretch that included three Challenger titles, his first ATP winner’s trophy (Kitzbuhel), and a run to the Winston-Salem quarters as a qualifier (lost to Janowicz). Goffin reached the third round in New York before succumbing to Grigor Dimitrov. Kamke is just 9-15 at the ATP level in 2014 and had not won a main-draw match since Hamburg prior to his defeat of De Schepper.
Pick: Goffin in 2
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who ya got?
a nap.