Andrey Rublev takes on Italian teenager Jannik Sinner for a spot in the Monte-Carlo quarterfinals on Thursday. Another Italian, Lorenzo Musetti, will also be in third-round action when he goes up against Diego Schwartzman.
(5) Andrey Rublev vs. (9) Jannik Sinner
World No. 12 Jannik Sinner’s Miami campaign ended in an injury retirement to Francisco Cerundolo in the quarterfinals. The 20-year-old was plagued with foot blisters because of the hot, humid south Florida sun. He seems to be all healed up this week, however. The No. 9 seed posted impressive wins over Borna Coric and Emil Ruusuvuori to earn his spot in the third round.
Andrey Rublev looked a little shaky in his opening match on Wednesday against Alex de Minaur. The Russian dropped the first set 6-2 and was in danger of going down a break in the second. He managed to hold served and cruised to take the second set 6-1. He was poised to take the third in similar fashion but he allowed de Minaur back into the match after seizing a 5-1 lead. Rublev finally held for 6-4, but it wasn’t a particularly convincing victory.
With the crowd firmly behind Sinner and based on Rublev’s performance against de Minaur, this one should go the way of the Italian.
Cheryl pick: Sinner in 3
Ricky pick: Sinner in 2
(12) Diego Schwartzman vs. Lorenzo Musetti
While this isn’t the most high-profile match on Thursday, it may be one of the best of the day. Musetti put in a good effort to upset Felix Auger-Aliassime in the second round to earn his spot opposite Schwartzman. He also had a decent run in Marrakech last week, where he made the quarters.
Diego Schwartzman worked hard in his first-round match against Karen Khachanov but made relative short work of Martin Fucsovics in the second. Of the two men, the Argentine has had a much better season. He strung together three good tournaments in a row in South American during the Golden Swing. He made the semis in Cordoba and the final in both Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro.
As they were in the second round, the crowd will be in Musetti’s corner. He will also go into Thursday’s match on younger, fresher legs. Still, Schwartzman has plenty of patience and clay-court acumen to handle the youngster.
Cheryl pick: Schwartzman in 3
Ricky pick: Musetti in 3
WWW?
I’d probably go with Schwarzman. You know what you’ll get with him, not so much with Musetti. To say FAA and Paire are questionable form-lines would be an understatement. Whereas Fucsovic had plenty to play for, is historically quite a good clay court player and was aiming to build momentum.
Schwartzman will gladly play the underdog (spoil the party) role, as well.
Not underdog, the role of the villain.