Marin Cilic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will continue their comebacks when they face each other on Thursday in Monte-Carlo. David Ferrer and Gilles Simon are also aiming for a place in the quarterfinals.
(11) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. (8) Marin Cilic
Both Cilic and Tsonga are contesting the second tournaments of their seasons at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. Cilic has been struggling with a shoulder injury since winning the U.S. Open and did not start his 2015 campaign until Indian Wells. He then withdrew from Miami, where Tsonga began his year after recovering from an arm problem.
Considering their situations, just making it this far is a relative success and one of the two will achieve an even better result in the form of a quarterfinal berth. Tsonga, who beat Tim Smyczek in Miami before falling to Gael Monfils, has already won two matches this week. The 14th-ranked Frenchman did not drop a set while cruising past Jan-Lennard Struff and David Goffin. Cilic earned the last of the opening-round byes as the No. 8 seed and kicked things off by defeating Florian Mayer 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 on Tuesday. The overall head-to-head series stands at 3-3, with the 10th-ranked Croat holding a 3-1 edge at the ATP level. They have never squared off on clay. Tsonga is basically playing at home and is in superior form with four matches–plus several in doubles–already under his belt as he returns to action, so he should have an advantage.
Pick: Tsonga in 3
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(10) Gilles Simon vs. (5) David Ferrer
Ferrer and Simon will be meeting for the 10th time in their careers and for the third time already this season. The head-to-head series stands at 7-2 in favor of Ferrer, who has won all four of their previous clay-court encounters. In fact, their history on the slow stuff is borderline shocking–even though Ferrer has always been a superior performer on the red dirt. The set scores are as follows, all in favor of the seventh-ranked Spaniard: 6-3, 6-1, 6-1, 6-0, 6-1, 6-4, 6-1, 6-0, and 7-6(5). In two hard-court showdowns earlier this year, Ferrer prevailed 6-2, 7-5, 5-7, 7-6(4) at the Australian Open and 7-6(5), 6-0 in Miami.
Simon, who would much rather contest this one on a hard court, has done well to reach the Monte-Carlo third round. The 13th-ranked Frenchman took advantage of two countrymen, Benjamin Balleret and Benoit Paire, whom he disposed of in straight sets. Ferrer followed up a first-round bye with a second-set retirement from Victor Estrella Burgos (the No. 5 seed was rolling 6-2, 2-0 at the time). Nobody has had an easier time of things than Ferrer, who will be well-rested and primed to continue his clay-court dominance of Simon.
Pick: Ferrer in 2
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set Simon