Dominic Thiem will continue his campaign as the No. 2 seed and now clear favorite to win the Rio title when he goes up against Diego Schwartzman on Friday. Pablo Carreno Busta and Alexandr Dolgopolov are also in quarterfinal action.
Diego Schwartzman vs. (2) Dominic Thiem
Not surprisingly, red clay appears to be curing all that has ailed Thiem in recent months as he heads into quarterfinal action at the Rio Open on Friday. The 23-year-old Austrian’s form fell off a cliff starting at Wimbledon last summer, which followed stellar clay-court results such as titles in Buenos Aires and Nice, a semifinal finish at this same Rio event, and a semifinal run at Roland Garros. Coming off poor losses to Nikoloz Basilashvili in Sofia and Pierre-Hugues Herbert in Rotterdam, Thiem has advanced this week with straight-set wins over Janko Tipsarevic and Dusan Lajovic.
Up next for the world No. 8 is a third career meeting with Schwartzman, who is 0-2 in the head-to-head series after falling to Thiem in the second round of this tournament in 2016 via a 7-5, 7-5 decision. The 51st-ranked Argentine was similarly competitive two years ago at the Miami Masters, where he succumbed 7-6(0), 7-5. Schwartzman is through to his first quarterfinal since reaching the Antwerp title match last October thanks to defeats of Renzo Olivo (6-4 in the third) and Federico Delbonis. The underdog will play his way into plenty of grueling baseline rallies, but he may eventually wear down after playing so much defense agains Thiem’s superior firepower.
Pick: Thiem in 2
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(4) Pablo Carreno Busta vs. Alexandr Dolgopolov
Carreno Busta and Dolgopolov will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers and for the second time in as many weeks when they meet again on Friday. They just faced each other in the semis in Buenos Aires, where Dolgopolov got the job done 7-5, 6-2 on his way to the title. It looks like this week, however, may be just a but tougher for the 50th-ranked Ukrainian. He maintained his scorching form by hammering David Ferrer 6-4, 6-4 in round one, but dealt with an apparent leg issue while scraping past Horacio Zeballos 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4 on Thursday.
A similar path has taken Carreno Busta to the last eight, as he easily ousted Joao Souza before holding off recent Quito champion Victor Estrella Burgos 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 in the second round. The 24th-ranked Spaniard turned in his best season on tour last year and he is a solid 8-4 during this 2017 campaign. An in-form Carreno Busta will likely end the hot streak of an opponent who may be less than 100 percent.
Pick: Carreno Busta in 3
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I like Thiem in 2 and PCB in 2.
Dolgopolov in three and the fairly resurgent Thiem in two
Dolgo for the W for sure. I dont know how PCB could win this. No way.
Dolgo hurt. And PCB would win even if Dolgo wasn’t hurt.
Love the PCB pick…Dog must be tired especially with a minor injury. Thiem should come away in straight sets.
Dolgo can’t keep this up.PCB in three.
Thiem in two.
Should have said Thiem in three.
Dolgopolov is seriously so entertaining to watch. His game is just so interesting he’s such a shotmaker. I really admire how he is obviously physically struggling with some kind of injury in his lower body (groin or hip or something I’m not sure) but he has stIll fought so hard to take it to a third. Great stuff from Dolgopolov. I’d love to see him win this tournament too. That would be crazy especially after he came into BA last week having won 1 of his last 11 matches.
Alex Dolgopolov is a joy to watch!
Sadly he ended up retiring earlier in the third. The injury is probably not too serious if he was able to fight through it for so long. Hopefully he recovers soon.