A brutal second-rounder on Thursday in Munich will pit Tommy Haas against Ernests Gulbis. Daniel Brands and Gael Monfils are also bidding for a place in the quarterfinals.
Ernests Gulbis vs. (3) Tommy Haas
Haas and Gulbis will be squaring off for the fourth time in their careers and for the second time this season when they collide in round two of the BMW Open on Thursday. Gulbis leads the head-to-head series 2-1, but Haas won their only previous clay-court encounter 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 four years ago in Madrid. The Latvian prevailed 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 at last summer’s U.S. Open and 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(2) in the Delray Beach semifinals two months ago.
Both players are searching for momentum on clay after outstanding hard-court runs earlier this spring. Gulbis won the Delray Beach title and reached the Indian Wells fourth round as a qualifier. The world No. 47 remains in solid form with second-round showing as a qualifier in Monte-Carlo and a third-round finish in Barcelona. Haas owns a 14-7 record for his 2013 campaign–not quite as impressive as his opponent’s 17-5 clip. The 35-year-old German went all the way to the semifinals in Miami, where he stunned Novak Djokovic before falling to David Ferrer. Haas, however, has not played since losing his Houston opener to Ricardas Berankis in straight sets.
Gulbis has the slight edge in current form and he should also enjoy an advantage on this surface even though neither man is a clay-court specialist. The 24-year-old is a former French Open quarterfinalist and Rome semifinalist, plus he has more match practice on the slow stuff this season than does Haas. On the other hand, Haas has home-court advantage playing in Germany. The fans will be firmly behind their man and won’t be afraid to let Gulbis hear their feelings should any questionable behavior arise. That being said, Gulbis will still be playing with confidence after a Tuesday rout of Jarkko Nieminen so he has to like has chances in this one.
Pick: Gulbis in 3
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Daniel Brands vs. (WC) Gael Monfils
Brands and Monfils will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers and for the second time in as many weeks when they meet again on Thursday. Both of their previous encounters have gone Brands’ way. He won 6-1, 7-5 to begin this season in Doha and he led 7-6(1), 2-0 last week in Bucharest before Monfils retired due to an apparent back problem.
Injuries have been the unfortunate norm for Monfils of late. The Frenchman is struggling down at No. 103 in the world because of inactivity and general poor play. He is a modest 11-9 for his 2013 campaign and just 4-7 since the Australian Open. On the bright side, Monfils crushed eighth-seeded Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 6-3 in a promising performance on Tuesday. Brands kicked off his week on Monday with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 victory over fellow German Tobias Kamke. The world No. 69 is 10-8 at the ATP main-draw level this year and he is also a a perfect seven for seven in qualifying attempts.
Their Bucharest result notwithstanding, Monfils has an obvious on edge on clay whenever he is anywhere near 100 percent. His win over Melzer is encouraging, but there is very little reason to think his body will hold up for two straight matches. In what is sure to be a much more hard-fought, difficult encounter with Brands, Monfils cannot be trusted.
Pick: Brands in 3
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