Paris R2 previews and predictions: Ferrer vs. Isner, Bautista Agut vs. Simon

Fellow Spaniards David Ferrer and Roberto Bautista Agut will kick off their Paris campaigns when they take the court for second-round action on Wednesday. Ferrer is facing John Isner, while Bautista Agut is going up against Gilles Simon.

John Isner vs. (15) David Ferrer

Ferrer and Isner will be squaring off for the ninth time in their careers when they battle for a place in the Paris third round on Wednesday. The head-to-head series is being dominated 7-1 by Ferrer, who has won five of their six hard-court encounters. They have faced each other only once this season, when the Spaniard cruised 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 at the Australian Open. Perhaps the good news for Isner is that his lone defeat of Ferrer has come at this same Paris event; the 6’10” American prevailed 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in 2011 and at least managed to be competitive last year when they met again in 2015’s final regular-season tournament (Ferrer got the job done 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-2).

A win over Ferrer last year in Paris would have allowed Isner to finish a season in the top 10 for the first time in his career. He did not come close this time around, however, as a disappointing 29-20 record includes no titles and is marked by a flurry of losses late in final sets. The world No. 27, however, may be ending on a relatively positive note as he reached the Vienna quarterfinals and took care of an in-form Mischa Zverev 7-6(8), 6-4 on Tuesday. Ferrer is coming off a semifinal showing in Vienna, but he was forced to give Andy Murray a walkover because of an ankle injury. Like Isner, the 34-year-old has slumped in 2016. He is 36-21 and struggling down at 16th in the rankings, with no titles to his credit. Ferrer has reached at least the Paris quarterfinals the last five seasons, a stretch that includes one title (2012) and one runner-up finish (2013). But Isner advanced to the semis in 2011 and to the quarters last year after upsetting Roger Federer. If Ferrer is less than 100 percent physically, he will be in serious trouble.

Pick: Isner in 2

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Gilles Simon vs. (10) Roberto Bautista Agut

Bautista Agut is mathematically alive in the race to the World Tour Finals heading into the last stop prior to London, which is not a complete shock based on how he started the season. The 15th-ranked Spaniard won two of his first four tournaments (Auckland and Sofia) while also reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open. A relative second-half slump (a recent Shanghai runner-up performance notwithstanding) is the main reason why Bautista Agut cannot qualify for London unless he goes all the way to the Paris title.

Up first for the No. 10 seed on Wednesday is a fifth career meeting with Simon, who leads the head-to-head series 3-1. Their only previous indoor encounter also came in France, where Simon prevailed 6-3, 6-1 at the 2013 Marseille event. The Frenchman is just 32-25 for his 2016 campaign but still registers at a decent 23rd in the world (the outcome of this match will likely determine if he gets a top 24 seed at the 2017 Aussie Open). He opened in Paris on Monday by scraping past countryman Julien Benneteau 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. With home-court advantage, Simon should be able to continue his success in this particular matchup.

Pick: Simon in 3

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