In his entire career on hard courts, Daniel Merida had never won a main-draw match on the main tour heading into the National Bank Open.
Merida has suddenly won four in a row, and his reward is a Tuesday night showdown against Learner Tien in the Spaniard’s first Masters 1000 quarterfinal appearance. Tien is into the last eight of a Masters 1000 for the second time, having previously accomplished the same feat this spring in Indian Wells.
The surface makes Merida’s Montreal run quite surprising, but it has hardly come out of nowhere. The world No. 63 was in awesome form on clay throughout the spring and summer, finishing runner-up in Bucharest, reaching the Madrid third round as a qualifier, and capturing his first ATP title in Umag. Merida has advanced this fortnight with victories over Liam Draxl, Ugo Humbert, Alex Michelsen, and Tallon Griekspoor.
Tien struggled at Wimbledon and in Washington, D.C., but it’s no surprise that he has gotten back on track in Montreal. The 19th-ranked American has always done his best work on medium or slow-paced hard courts, and he has been up to his usual tricks throughout this fortnight. Tien opened with an up-and-down 6-3, 0-6, 6-3 defeat of Gael Monfils but then picked up the pace to destroy both Tommy Paul and Thiago Agustin Tirante.
Tien had no trouble withstanding Tirante’s huge forehand, and the left-hander’s consistency should also be too tough for a similar kind of player in Merida.
Pick: Tien in 2
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Tien basically had nothing on his serve in the last match, his arm clearly not 100%, but was still able to get it done, but if his arm is still ailing vs. Merida, the door is open for the Spanish to take advantage of his 2nd not 100% player, Tien in 3, 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-4.