Frequent practice partners Ernests Gulbis and Dominic Thiem will battle for a spot in the Nice semifinals on Thursday. John Isner and Dusan Lajovic are also in action.
Dominic Thiem vs. (3) Ernests Gulbis
Gulbis and Thiem will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers at the ATP main-draw level when they meet in the quarterfinals of the Open de Nice Cote d’Azur on Thursday. Thiem has won both of their previous encounters. The 21-year-old Austrian capitalized on a hobbled opponent to prevail 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 at the 2014 U.S. Open before cruising 6-4, 6-2 earlier this season on the indoor hard courts of Rotterdam. Gulbis has, however, defeated Thiem once before; 6-4, 6-3 during qualification at the 2012 Winston-Salem event.
Current form obviously favors Thiem. The world No. 42 has now won multiple matches in three consecutive tournaments (Munich and Rome included) after beating Victor Estrella Burgos and Nick Kyrgios earlier this week. Thiem, a quarterfinalist in Miami, led Kyrgios 4-3 with a break on Wednesday when the Austrian retired because of a right elbow injury. As poorly as Gulbis has been playing, there may be something about Nice that brings out the best in him. The 25th-ranked Latvian is the defending champion and he picked up his second victory of this entire year by holding off Alexandr Dolgopolov 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 in the second round. Gulbis has reached the point where he is at least competitive most times he takes the court, but asking him to win back-to-back matches is too much.
Pick: Thiem in 3
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Dusan Lajovic vs. (2) John Isner
Isner has heated up nicely on red clay and will be looking to maintain momentum on Thursday as he prepares for the French Open. The 17th-ranked American got his game in gear in the friendly confines of the United States (fourth round in Indian Wells, semifinals in Miami) and he has not slowed down in Europe. Isner reached third rounds in Monte-Carlo and Rome (lost to Rafael Nadal at both tournaments) in addition to a quarterfinal performance in Madrid. The No. 2 seed opened on Tuesday in Nice by beating countryman Steve Johnson 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-3.
Up next for Isner on Thursday is a first-ever meeting with Lajovic. It has already been a great week for the 75th-ranked Serb, who is through to his third quarterfinal of the year (all three on clay) thanks to three-set wins over Jack Sock and Pablo Carreno Busta. This is the first time since mid-February that Lajovic has won multiple matches in the main draw of a tournament. It will be hard for the underdog to slow down his opponent given how well Isner is playing–and how big he is serving–on the red dirt.
Pick: Isner in 2
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