Sam Querrey and Gilles Simon will continue their Nottingham campaigns during quarterfinal action on Thursday. Simone Bolelli and Marcos Baghdatis are also aiming for a place in the last four.
Marcos Baghdatis vs. Simone Bolelli
Bolelli and Baghdatis will be facing each other for the third time in their careers and for the second time this season when they battle for a semifinal spot at the AEGON Open on Thursday. Their two previous encounters were separated by seven years and both were won by Bolelli. The Italian cruised 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 at Roland Garros in 2008 before rolling 6-2, 6-2 earlier this year on the hard courts of Miami.
Baghdatis has to hope that grass yields a different result. The 30-year-old Cypriot has always been dangerous on the slick stuff and this week is no exception. So far in Nottingham he has taken out Victor Estrella Burgos, No. 1 seed David Ferrer, and Alexander Zverev without dropping a set. Bolelli booked his ticket to the last eight by defeating Go Soeda, Martin Klizan, and Adrian Mannarino. Ranked three spots ahead of Baghdatis at 56th in the world, Bolelli is a solid 20-15 at the ATP level in 2015. Look for the surface to make a difference in the outcome of this one, with Baghdatis’ flat ball-striking helping him to a hard-fought victory.
Pick: Baghdatis in 3
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(12) Sam Querrey vs. (2) Gilles Simon
Not unlike Baghdatis, Querrey hopes the grass will allow him to turn the tide of what has been a disturbing head-to-head history against his Thursday adversary. Simon has won four of five previous meetings with the American, including three in a row dating back to 2010. The Frenchman prevailed twice in 2013; 2-6, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(2), 6-2 at the French Open and 6-4, 7-6(1) on the indoor hard courts of Metz. Querrey has actually never defeated Simon in tournament competition, as his lone win came at the 2009 World Team Championship on the clay courts of Dusseldorf.
The world No. 44, though, has done stellar work on grass throughout his career (for example, he won Queen’s Club in 2010). Querrey is up to his usual tricks this week on the green stuff, with defeats of Santiago Giraldo and Pablo Cuevas in the aftermath of a first-round bye. Simon also earned a free pass through round one as the No. 2 seed before making a miracle escape from 6-4, 5-3, 40-0 down against Marcel Granollers on Tuesday. The world No. 13 enjoyed a much more routine 6-4, 6-1 disposal of Joao Sousa during third-round action. On any other surface Simon would get the nod, but grass will allow Querrey to dictate play with huge serving and big forehands.
Pick: Querrey in 3
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