Marin Cilic and Mikhail Youzhny are headlining quarterfinal action on Friday in Moscow. The two seeds are set for respective meetings with Tommy Robredo and Mikhail Kukushkin.
(6) Tommy Robredo vs. (2) Marin Cilic
Cilic and Robredo will be going head-to-head for the seventh time in their careers and for the fourth time this season when they do battle in the quarterfinals of the Kremlin Cup on Friday. They have split their six previous encounters at three wins apiece, with Cilic having won two of their three hard-court showdowns–including 6-4, 6-3 this spring in Indian Wells. The Croat then prevailed 7-5, 6-7(3), 7-6(5) on the clay courts of Barcelona before Robredo avenged those defeats by winning 7-6(10), 6-3 in the Umag semifinals.
Not too surprisingly, Cilic has struggled just a bit since his U.S. Open triumph. The world No. 8 lost early in Shenzhen (quarterfinals) and Shanghai (first round) and needed three sets to get past Evgeny Donskoy on Wednesday. Robredo has advanced in Moscow with wins over Pedja Krstin and Filip Krajinovic. The 32-year-old Spaniard is also bouncing back from going a combined 1-2 in Beijing and Shanghai. A fast indoor hard court will not allow Robredo to sink his teeth into rallies when he plays so far behind the baseline like he always does against Cilic.
Pick: Cilic in 2
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(7) Mikhail Youzhny vs. Mikhail Kukushkin
The two Mikhails have faced each other on three previous occasions–including once in Moscow–heading into Friday’s quarterfinals. Youzhny leads the head-to-head series 2-1, having dominated 6-2, 6-1 in the semis of this same event in 2009 before scoring a 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 victory at the 2011 French Open. In between, Kukushkin defeated the Russian 6-3, 7-6(2) in the 2010 St. Petersburg title match.
Often at his best playing in front of home fans, Youzhny booked his spot in the last eight with straight-set wins over Victor Baluda and Juan Monaco. The 2009 Moscow champion is still a disappointing 18-20 for his 2014 campaign. An in-form Kukushkin reached the Shanghai third round last week and pushed Novak Djokovic to three sets. So far at this tournament the 74th-ranked Kazakh has taken out Karen Khachanov and Fabio Fognini. Look for home-court advantage to make a difference it what will be a baseline battle of flat, penetrating groundstrokes.
Pick: Youzhny in 3
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