David Ferrer and Dominic Thiem are desperately trying to pick up some momentum for 2017 on the clay courts of Rio de Janeiro this week. They are set for respective openers on Tuesday against Alexandr Dolgopolov and Janko Tipsarevic.
Alexandr Dolgopolov vs. (6) David Ferrer
Ferrer and Dolgopolov will be squaring off for the 13th time in their careers when they clash in round one of the Rio Open on Tuesday night. The head-to-head series stands at 9-3 in favor of Ferrer, but Dolgopolov has won two of their last three non-retirement meetings. They most recently faced each other in the first round of last summer’s U.S. Open, with Ferrer getting a retirement from the Ukrainian while leading 6-5 in the opening set. This is their second showdown in Rio, where Dolgopolov got the job done 6-4, 6-4 in a semifinal affair.
The world No. 50 has struggled with injuries over the last few seasons, but he captured a title this past weekend on the red clay of Buenos Aires. Dolgopolov picked up wins at the expense of Pablo Cuevas, Pablo Carreno Busta, and Kei Nishikori en route to his first winner’s trophy since 2012 and he did not drop a single set in five matches. Ferrer, on the other hand, is struggling at 29th in the rankings and he is coming off a second-round Buenos Aires loss to Carlos Berlocq. The 34-year-old Spaniard is just 3-4 this season. A motivated Ferrer, however, should be able to use the surface to his advantage and scrape past an opponent who may be feeling some fatigue.
Pick: Ferrer in 3
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(WC) Janko Tipsarevic vs. (2) Dominic Thiem
Thiem is obviously at the other end of the career spectrum from Ferrer, but the 23-year-old is also struggling. The eighth-ranked Austrian has been mired in an alarming slump–mostly on hard courts–since playing the best tennis of his life throughout last spring and early in the summer. Thiem has already lost five matches in 2017 compared to only seven victories and he suffered setbacks against players ranked outside the top 85 in Sofia (Nikoloz Basilashvili) and Rotterdam (Pierre-Hugues Herbert).
Up first for Thiem on Tuesday is Tipsarevic, whom he has never faced. The 96th-ranked Serb’s woes can be chalked up to physical problems, but he is back from a foot injury and inside the top 100. Tipsarevic started his ATP-level season on this Golden Swing and reached the second round in Quito before falling to Dolgopolov right off the bat in Buenos Aires. This will be another tough test for the underdog on this surface, as Thiem advanced to the Rio semifinals in 2016, captured clay-court titles last season in Buenos Aires and Nice, and made a run to the French Open semis.
Pick: Thiem in 2
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WWW?
Dolgo and Thiem.
#NewIdeaForABuddyCopActionFlick
Sky is showing a home player – Elias vs Monteiro on CC whilst Ferrer is on Ct 1. ?
Nishikori is serving to stay in the match against Bellucci.
Nishikori lost 64 63.
Congrats to me.
Where’s yo bracket Hawkstradamus? 😉
Basilashvilli or Tommy Haas?
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaas!!!!!!!
#Sentimental
Awwwwwww… didn’t know you were a Tommy Haas fan.
Not Haas in particular but I think with few exceptions we all tend to grow a bit of a soft spot for players late in their career, no?
Oh oh!What’s wrong with Kei?
MA…only caught the last of the match. But Kei losing to Bellucci was on my mind. I was ready for it. No idea what’s wrong with him. Nice win for Bellucci. His home fans loved it.
Now watching Thiem v Tipsa. Thiem is my winner pick for Rio and he looks unsure of himself as Janko breaks back. Ouch.
Quick turnaround after making final two days ago.
Ricky was right. Congrats to Ricky. 🙁
#WalkOfShame
Did you pick a WTA Dubai draw this week Hawk?
No I didna.
Too much commitment.
Hey rc…i didn’t see the match either..just read a news that kei lost to belluci…wow!it’s very surprising because Kei is very good on clay…always give Rafa troubles…maybe he still hindered by hip injury?As good as Belluci is…i believe if Kei not hampered by injury and fit,he will take care of belluci with no trouble at all..Btw..how are u rc?Miss u lots!!
Sorry MA…
Just too swamped to go on FB this week. (miss chatting w/u there too)
Sorry Hawkie…
Basilashvili in the hot new thing lately.
“is” not “in”
I didn’t even think to enter bracket challenges for this week’s tournaments. I am looking forward to once again being able to watch tennis at a reasonable hour once again!
Tennis channel showing Thiem/Tipsy, assuming this is a rerun.
Ooh! Delpo taking the court in Delray!
Hey, I guess the Thiem/Tipsy match is live! Good time to tune in to tennis!
That’s alright rc,as long as you’re still not forgot about me…
http://cdn.quotesgram.com/img/87/25/1880315513-Hugs-and-kisses-for-you.gif