A quarterfinal spot will be at stake when Feliciano Lopez and Lleyton Hewitt do battle on Thursday in Brisbane. Meanwhile, Gael Monfils is going up against Daniel Brands in Doha.
(6) Feliciano Lopez vs. Lleyton Hewitt
Lopez and Hewitt will be going head-to-head for the fourth time in their careers when they collide in round two of the Brisbane International on Thursday. Hewitt has won all three of their previous encounters, including all in straight sets and two on hard courts. The two veterans have not faced each other since 2007.
Hewitt treated the Australian crowd to a 6-3, 7-5 victory over countryman Thanasi Kokkinakis in his tournament opener. The 32-year-old is down at No. 60 in the world, but he compiled a solid 24-18 record in 2013 and advanced to the fourth round of the U.S. Open. Lopez beat Mikhail Kukushkin 6-4, 6-4 on Tuesday. Ranked 28th, the 32-year-old Spaniard is on course for an Australian Open seed. Playing at home and with confidence from his past history in this matchup, Hewitt should get the job done.
Pick: Hewitt in 2
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Gael Monfils vs. Daniel Brands
Only two seeds–Rafael Nadal and Ernests Gulbis–reached the quarterfinals of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. Monfils and Brands are two of the six unseeded floaters looking to capitalize on major opportunities presented to them on Thursday. They are familiar foes, as well. Among their three 2013 encounters was a showdown at the same stage of this same Doha event; Brands prevailed 6-1, 7-5 to book a place in the semis. The German won all three of his meetings against Monfils, also emerging victorious on clay in Bucharest and Munich.
A healthy Monfils, however, may be primed for revenge. The 31st-ranked Frenchman appears to have locked up an Australian Open seed with two wins already this week–over Santiago Giraldo and No. 5 seed Richard Gasquet. Brands has taken out Nikolay Davydenko and second-seeded David Ferrer, also without dropping a set. The world No. 54 is clearly comfortable in Doha, but this may be a different Monfils on the other side of the net than the one Brands saw during the first half of last season.
Pick: Monfils in 3
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