Fellow Spaniards and top two seeds Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer will headline quarterfinal Friday in Rio. They are set for respective showdowns against Pablo Cuevas and Juan Monaco.
(1) Rafael Nadal vs. (6) Pablo Cuevas
One seven-match streak will come to an end when Nadal and Cuevas collide for the first time in their careers in the Rio Open quarterfinals on Friday. Nadal is 7-0 lifetime at this event, while Cuevas is 7-0 in his last seven matches. The red-hot Uruguayan is up to a career-high ranking of 23rd in the world thanks in part to a title last week on the clay of Sao Paulo. Cuevas started the season predictably slow on hard courts, but he has rounded into form on the slow stuff and is not showing any signs of slowing down this week. He opened with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Nicolas Almagro before taking care of Albert Montanes 6-2, 6-2 on Thursday.
Although he has been far from dominant through to rounds, Nadal did not have too much trouble booking his spot in the last eight. The third-ranked Spaniard defeated Thomaz Bellucci 6-4, 6-1 then held off countryman Pablo Carreno Busta 7-5, 6-3. Nadal did not showcase his best stuff at the Australian Open and he is not even doing it so far on clay, but he may not have to against a fatigued opponent whose run has to end at some point. It will likely end now, as this will be Cuevas’ first match in 2015 against a top 30 player and just second against anyone in the top 65.
Pick: Nadal in 2 losing 8-10 games
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Juan Monaco vs. (2) David Ferrer
Ferrer and Monaco will be squaring off for the eighth time in their careers on Friday. Monaco leads the head-to-head series 4-3, but Ferrer has won two of their last three meetings and three of the last five and the two veterans have not faced each other since 2011. They clashed twice that season, with Ferrer improving to 2-3 against his opponent on clay thanks to a 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 triumph in Acapulco before Monaco prevailed 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 on the indoor hard courts of Valencia.
Fast forward four years and it is Ferrer who is going stronger at 32 than Monaco is at 30. The Spaniard has dipped slightly to No. 9 in the world, but a mostly clean bill of health has allowed him to remain near the top of the sport. Ferrer is 10-1 for his 2015 campaign with a title in Doha and victories this week over Daniel Gimeno-Traver and Thiemo De Bakker (via retirement). Monaco also got a retirement (from Santiago Giraldo) then followed it up by getting the best of Jarkko Nieminen 6-1, 7-6(4). The 66th-ranked Argentine does not have a non-retirement win over anyone in the top 70 since last fall in Shanghai.
Pick: Ferrer in 2
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