Benoit Paire will be in action on Monday in Stockholm as he goes up against Santiago Giraldo. Meanwhile, Joao Sousa and Sergiy Stakhovsky are facing each other in a Moscow first-round match.
(6) Benoit Paire vs. Santiago Giraldo
Paire and Giraldo will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers when they clash in round one of the If Stockholm Open on Monday. Both players are coming off unspectacular performances at the Shanghai Masters. Paire dismissed fellow Frenchman Gilles Simon in his opener before succumbing to Florian Mayer in straight sets. Giraldo had a golden opportunity to finish off John Isner in the first round only to eventually lose 7-5 in the third.
The 83-ranked Colombian generally does his best work on clay and occasionally on slower hard courts. He is a horrendous 15-24 at the ATP level in 2013 and is staying in the Top 100 only because of a decent number of points from clay-court Challenger events. As for Paire, he is wrapping up a solid season in which he owns 29 ATP-level wins. The 27th-ranked Frenchman, though, is a disappointing 1-4 in his last five matches (excluding Challengers). Paire is not playing with much confidence, but he would have to sink to a new low in order to have a setback against Giraldo on an indoor hard court.
Pick: Paire in 3
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(7) Joao Sousa vs. Sergiy Stakhovsky
Sousa is back in action for the first time since making a shock run to the Kuala Lumpur title late last month. From just about out of nowhere (although he did have some considerable Challenger success in June and July), Portugal’s No. 1 player caught fire with a third-round showing at the U.S. Open and a semifinal finish in St. Petersburg prior to Kuala Lumpur. Ranked a career-high 49th in the world, Sousa posted wins during that stretch over Grigor Dimitrov, Dmitry Tursunov, David Ferrer, Jurgen Melzer, and Julien Benneteau.
Unlike Sousa, Stakhovsky has not been able to sustain any success. After a famous second-round Wimbledon upset of Roger Federer, the 96th-ranked Ukrainian dropped five consecutive matches. An appearance last month in St. Petersburg resulted in a 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 loss to Sousa–their only previous meeting. Stakhovsky’s last three tournaments all came at the Challenger level and he did not advance past the second round of a single one. Based on current form as well as their St. Petersburg match, there is no reason to think Stakhovsky will win this one.
Pick: Sousa in 2
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