Nottingham R3 previews and predictions: Querrey vs. Baghdatis, Muller vs. Youzhny

Big servers Sam Querrey and Gilles Muller will hope to take advantage of the grass-court surface in Nottingham and win their third-round matches on Wednesday. Querrey is facing Marcos Baghdatis, while Muller is going up against Mikhail Youzhny.

(5) Sam Querrey vs. (9) Marcos Baghdatis

Querrey and Baghdatis will be squaring off for the fifth time in their careers and for the first time on something other than an indoor hard court when they battle for a place in the quarterfinals of the AEGON Open on Wednesday afternoon. The head-to-head series stands at 3-1 in favor of Querrey, but their only encounter since 2009 was won by Baghdatis (7-6(2), 6-1 last fall in Stockholm).

Both veterans built on first-round byes by coasting through their respective openers on Tuesday; Querrey handled fellow American Ernesto Escobedo 6-4, 6-4, while Baghdatis took care of Evgeny Donskoy 7-5, 6-2. Querrey’s grass-court campaign includes a semifinal performance in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and a first-round Queen’s Club loss to Roberto Bautista Agut in three tiebreakers. The ninth-seeded Cypriot is coming off a quarterfinal showing in Halle, where he fell to eventual runner-up Alexander Zverev. On grass, Querrey’s ability to minimize baseline rallies with his booming serve may be the difference.

Pick: Querrey in 3

[polldaddy poll=9451845]

(8) Gilles Muller vs. Mikhail Youzhny

At 32 years old, Muller still has never won an ATP title. He came within one victory–again–of getting over the hump earlier this month in ‘s-Hertogenbosch but fell to 0-4 lifetime in finals with a 6-4, 6-4 setback at the hands of Nicolas Mahut. The 41st-ranked Luxembourgian got right back in action at Queen’s Club, where he advanced to the quarters before bowing out to Bernard Tomic. Following a first-round bye in Nottingham, Muller opened on Sunday by cruising past Jiri Vesely 7-6(2), 6-2.

Up next for the No. 8 seed is a fifth career meeting with Youzhny, and the head-to-head series is all tied up at two wins apiece. Their only previous grass-court collision came last summer at Queen’s Club, where Muller survived a 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(5) thriller. Youzhny is slowing down at 33 years old, currently toiling at 73rd in the rankings with a 7-7 ATP-level record in 2016. The Russian started the season by playing the vulture role at Challenger events to build confidence, which he did in extremely successful fashion. But the ATP level has been much more difficult and facing an in-form Muller on grass will be a particularly tough proposition.

Pick: Muller in 2

[polldaddy poll=9451847]