Dominic Thiem will kick of his Munich campaign against Santiago Giraldo on Wednesday. Thomaz Bellucci and Ivan Dodig are also aiming for a place in the quarterfinals.
(3) Dominic Thiem vs. Santiago Giraldo
Thiem and Giraldo will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers when they clash in round two of the BMW Open on Wednesday. Their only previous meeting also came during the clay-court swing, with Giraldo scoring a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory at the Barcelona event in 2014. Fast forward two years and Thiem is obviously a much different and more consistent player now. The 22-year-old Austrian is an awesome 26-7 for the season and up to No. 15 in the world. He owns five career ATP titles, four of which have come at 250-point tournaments on clay.
Giraldo, on the other hand, is struggling down at 97th in the rankings. The Colombian opened in Munich by defeating qualifier Mischa Zverev 7-5, 7-6(5) on Monday, but he is still a modest 6-8 for the year. Giraldo plays with an extremely small margin of error, which explains some of his inconsistencies. Thiem is certain to make him play a ton of balls, especially on this surface, and the No. 3 seed can also showcase superior firepower.
Pick: Thiem in 2
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Ivan Dodig vs. (6) Thomaz Bellucci
Bellucci and Dodig will be squaring off for the third time in their careers on Wednesday. Interestingly, their only previous ATP-level encounter also came at this same Munich event. Bellucci got the job done 7-6(0), 6-4 in 2014 and he improved to 2-0 lifetime against Dodig thanks to a similar 7-6(4), 6-4 decision on the clay courts of Rome during the qualifying competition last season.
Neither man had any real trouble booking a spot in the second round this week. Bellucci got a second-set retirement from Mikhail Youzhny, who was trailing 6-3, 1-0 at the time. Dodig took advantage of an ice-cold Ernests Gulbis to prevail 7-6(3), 6-2. Both players are saddled with losing records in 2016, so there is no clear edge in current form. Clay should give a slight advantage to Bellucci, who has always turned in by far his best work on the slow stuff.
Pick: Bellucci in 3
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who ya got?
Thiem in straights and going a bit risky with dodig in three.
Thiem in 2.
Going with Ricky’s pick – Bellucci in 3 (Dodig in 3 also sounds right)
Thiem in 2 sets.
Bellucci hasn’t looked good of late, but I think he will get the win over Dodig in 3 sets.
Bellucci must prevail in straight sets with his tops spin shots and effective service play.