Montreal R3 previews and predictions: Nadal vs. Pella, Cilic vs. Thiem

Rafael Nadal continues his bid to defend last year’s Rogers Cup title when he takes the court against Guido Pella on Thursday. Seeds Dominic Thiem and Marin Cilic are also part of third-round action in Montreal.

(1) Rafael Nadal vs. Guido Pella

Guido Pella will have perhaps his best chance yet to score a win against world No. 2 Rafael Nadal. He has been unsuccessful in three tries against reigning French Open champion, but the Spaniard was rusty in his first-round match against Dan Evans on Wednesday. He had a typically long, exhausting clay-court season and made the semifinals at Wimbledon before taking a much-needed break in July. The relatively slow start isn’t particularly concerning, as Nadal often needs to work himself back into form after a layoff–but Pella will be tricky if his game is still off.

Pella already has a couple of good wins this week. He got his first victory ever over David Goffin in the first round and he dispatched Radu Albot in the second. The Argentine, who made a surprising run to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, is playing some great tennis at the moment. It won’t likely be enough to take out the top seed, but he could make Nadal work hard for the win.

Cheryl pick: Nadal in 2

Ricky pick: Nadal in 2

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(2) Dominic Thiem vs. (14) Marin Cilic

Despite his career high No. 4 ranking, Dominic Thiem is still vulnerable on hard courts. The 2019 French Open finalist elected to squeeze the last rankings points from the clay season by staying in Europe after Wimbledon rather than make the transition to North American hard courts. Denis Shapovalov, the big-hitting Canadian, managed to take a set from Thiem in the second round. In the third round, the Austrian faces Marin Cilic.

Cilic hasn’t had a spectacular 2019. He did make the quarterfinals last week in Washington, D.C., where he went out in straight sets to Daniil Medvedev, but it has been an otherwise lackluster season. Cilic has secured a couple of straight-set wins this week over Bradley Klahn and John Millman to earn his third-round spot.

This is a winnable match for Cilic despite the fact that Thiem won their only other encounter, a hard-court match in Brisbane. Thiem has the chops to play well on a hard court, as he proved when he captured the Indian Wells title in March. Still, he has looked a little shaky on surfaces other than clay since his run in Paris.

Cheryl pick: Cilic in 3

Ricky pick: Cilic in 3

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