Veterans Feliciano Lopez and Lleyton Hewitt will continue their Queen’s Club campaigns on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Stan Wawrinka is set for an intriguing opener against Marcos Baghdatis.
(1) Stanislas Wawrinka vs. (WC) Marcos Baghdatis
A slumping Baghdatis skipped almost the entire clay-court swing, but a sudden winning streak on grass may be in the cards as he heads into second-round action at the Aegon Championships. The 28-year-old captured a Challenger title last week in Nottingham, where he crushed Igor Sijsling in the semifinals and took care of Marinko Matosevic in the final. Baghdatis opened on Tuesday at Queen’s Club with a 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-1 victory over Bradley Klahn.
Up next for the world No. 118 on Wednesday is a fifth career meeting with Wawrinka. All four of their previous encounters have gone Wawrinka’s way, but they have never faced each other on anything other than a hard court. They squared off twice last season, with the Swiss prevailing 6-3, 6-2, 6-7(1), 7-6(7) at the U.S. Open and 6-1, 7-5 in Kuala Lumpur. Wawrinka captured the Monte-Carlo title to build on his Australian Open triumph, but he has cooled off in a hurry. This week’s No. 1 seed is just 1-3 in his last four matches and he is coming off a first-round French Open loss to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Out of almost nowhere, this looks like it should be a competitive contest.
Pick: Wawrinka in 3
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Lleyton Hewitt vs. (10) Feliciano Lopez
Hewitt and Lopez will also be taking a lopsided head-to-head series record into their fifth career showdown. The score stands at 4-0 in Hewitt’s favor, a mark that includes a 7-5, 6-3 decision earlier this year on the hard courts of Brisbane. That was the first time in seven years the two veterans had collided. Hewitt is an incredible 10-0 in total sets against Lopez and only one has even progressed to a tiebreaker.
Neither man had too much trouble advancing out of the opening round. Hewitt handled Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-3, 6-3 on Sunday for the Aussie’s first match win since Houston in early April. Lopez got past Dusan Lajovic 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-1 on Monday and he is now 15-14 at the ATP level this season. The Spanish southpaw can be dangerous on grass, but Hewitt is even more accomplished on this surface and their past history against one another cannot be overlooked.
Pick: Hewitt in 2
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