Nice SF previews and picks: Gulbis vs. Montanes, Simon vs. Delbonis

Defending champion Albert Montanes is the only remaining unseeded player in Nice, where he will contest his semifinal match on Friday against Ernests Gulbis. Gilles Simon and Federico Delbonis are also looking for a place in the final.

Albert Montanes vs. (2) Ernests Gulbis

Gulbis and Montanes will be facing each other for the sixth time in their careers and for the second time during the current clay-court swing when they clash in the semifinals of the Open de Nice Cote d’Azur on Friday afternoon. Gulbis leads the head-to-head series 4-1 after prevailing 7-5, 6-1 last month in Barcelona. The Latvian, who is 2-1 against Montanes on clay, has won four in a row since falling to the Spaniard seven years ago at Roland Garros.

On the bright side for Montanes, he is the defending champion of this event. Clearly comfortable in this setting, he has dismissed Matthew Ebden, Sam Querrey, and Leonardo Mayer so far this week. Gulbis booked his spot in the title match with three-set victories over Martin Klizan and Dmitry Tursunov. The Russian served for the match against Gulbis at 5-4 in the third on Thursday but could not seal the deal. Clay will help Montanes in this one, but Gulbis’ superior talent should see him through regardless of the surface and the recent result in Barcelona is encouraging for the world No. 19.

Pick: Gulbis in 3

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(7) Federico Delbonis vs. (4) Gilles Simon

Delbonis and Simon will also be going head-to-head for the second time in this clay-court season. Their only previous encounter came last month in Casablanca, where Delbonis cruised through a first-round encounter 6-4, 6-4. The 45th-ranked Argentine, seeking his second clay-court title of the year after triumphing in Sao Paulo, is enjoying an impressive week that features scalps of Mikhail Kukushkin, Paul-Henri Mathieu, and No. 1 seed John Isner in a third-set tiebreaker.

Simon, meanwhile, already looks like a much different player from the one that was on display in Casablanca. A switch seemed to be flipped when the 30th-ranked Frenchman tested Rafael Nadal in a Rome three-setter that lasted more than three hours. Simon got an opening-round bye in Nice before taking out a red-hot Dominic Thiem and recent Oeiras champion Carlos Berlocq. Playing at home and with new-found confidence, the No. 4 seed should be able to exact some revenge on Delbonis.

Pick: Simon in 3

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