World Tour Finals qualifiers Stan Wawrinka and David Ferrer will contest intriguing Paris openers on Tuesday. They are set for respective second-round meetings with Bernard Tomic and Alexandr Dolgopolov.
(4) Stan Wawrinka vs. Bernard Tomic
Wawrinka will be hoping to bounce back from an immediate loss in Basel and gain some momentum heading into the World Tour Finals when he takes the court at the BNP Paribas Masters on Tuesday. The fourth-ranked Swiss is still a stellar 14-3 since the start of the U.S. Open, but he is coming off a 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-4 setback against Ivo Karlovic in which the 6’11” Croat trailed by a set and a break. Wawrinka is a disappointing 10-10 lifetime in Paris with only one trip past the third round (quarterfinals in 2013).
Up first for the fourth seed is a second career meeting with Tomic, who won their only previous encounter 4-6. 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 in a 2011 Davis Cup World Group playoff showdown in Australia. The 23-year-old Aussie’s rise since then has been far from meteoric, but he has managed to climb to No. 18 in the world. Tomic is 40-26 for the season after easing past Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-2 on Monday. With a match under his belt, the underdog may be primed to pull off an upset of an opponent who has never impressed at this event.
Pick: Tomic in 3
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(8) David Ferrer vs. Alexandr Dolgopolov
Ferrer and Dolgopolov will be squaring off for the 10th time in their careers but for the first time this year on Tuesday. The head-to-head series stands at 7-2 in favor of Ferrer, who has won all six of their previous hard-court collisions–including two indoors. They most recently faced each other twice last season, when Ferrer prevailed 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 in Doha before Dolgopolov won 6-4, 6-4 on the clay courts of Rio de Janeiro.
Dolgopolov booked his spot in the last 32 by getting past Jiri Vesely 6-3, 7-6(6) on Monday. It was the 37th-ranked Ukrainian’s first victory since the Cincinnati quarterfinals, ending a streak of seven consecutive losses. Ferrer skipped Valencia last week, having already played a ton of tennis this fall. He captured titles in Kuala Lumpur and Vienna in addition to a semifinal showing in Beijing. The eighth-ranked Spaniard is an awesome 52-12 for his 2015 campaign and headed to the World Tour Finals. Based on past history and respective current form, it is hard to see Dolgopolov stringing together a second winning performance in a row.
Pick: Ferrer in 2
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who ya got?
Gotta be Ferrer in straight, and W’ka in straight as well.
scootd will never again pick Tomic to win another set, regardless of opponent
Stan in 3.
Ferru in tu.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CS4-liMUcAA3Z1L.png
Hooray to TennisTV.com!
Wow! Looking forward to it.
In spite of a straight set win for WaWa for most of the match he was decidedly underwhelming and Tomic was the better player.
Tomic should have won comfortably
Stan wanted as more. Tomic, as usual, showed flashes of brilliance but overall looked more interested in starting his vacation.
Should have considered that in your prediction like I did.
Stan won. Congrats to those who picked Stan.
🙂
You are not as smart as you think ? You predicted 3 sets
Smarter than most is all that matters.
Granted
to be fair, Tomic had huge chance to take this to the third set, in the second set tie-break, but he blew it making stupid UEs…for one he did look like he couldn’t care less about the outcome of the match… that is so much like him 🙂
He did look rather rat-arsed like he’d been out on the tiles last night. I think he cares more than we think. The nonchalance is his way of concealing the disappointment when he loses.
I just recall his Shanghai match with Novak…after hard fought first set he faded away in the second…no resistance, no fighting spirit…but I do agree that he has grown up and is getting more serious about his matches…I am sure Tomic will do better next year…
Stan wanted this win and he hit some magnificent ground strokes. Didn’t let the tiebreak go like he did against Cilic and Karlovic, and stayed w/ Tomic’s awkward style of play. Needs to serve better, but the slower court speed should help him going forward.
Well said
he defintely got some help from Tomic also