An surprising, all-unseeded quarterfinal contest between Juan Monaco and Lucas Pouille will take place on Friday in Rome. The winner will face either Andy Murray or David Goffin on Saturday. Adam Leigh previews the action.
Juan Monaco will meet promising young Frenchman Lucas Pouille in an unlikely quarterfinal showdown at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Friday.
Pouille is looking to continue a breakout season and book a spot in a Masters 1000 semifinal for what would represent the high point of his career up to this point. It would be especially sweet after he picked up a lucky-loser berth into the main draw following a loss to Mikhail Kukushkin in the final round qualifying. He caught additional breaks with a bye in the first round before getting past a badly-struggling Ernest Gulbis in three sets and then mercilessly punishing a flat David Ferrer in the last 16.
He will likely face a much sterner examination against former world No. 10 Monaco. When fit and in form, the 32-year-old has been one of the more complete clay-court performers on tour; his eight ATP clay-court titles provide such a testimony. After a slow start to the year, Monaco captured his second Houston title in April, dropping just two sets along the way. He advanced to the this stage in Rome with wins over Kevin Anderson, Steve Johnson, and an underwhelming Stan Wawrinka.
During his Houston title run and his passage here in Rome, Monaco has been able to find another gear with his groundstrokes; when dialed in he is able to hit consistently with a lot of weight through his shots on the dirt, which troubles all but the elite players on tour. Pouille moves well enough to get plenty of balls back in play, but he will not have the benefit of a plethora of short balls that he can step into–as he did against Ferrer. If there are any lingering questions about Monaco’s fitness, he may silence those by staying in a lot of points. Ultimately, the Argentine should compromise the time Pouille has to hit through his strokes and force him into too many errors.
Pick: Monaco in 3
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Pouille in three
This is the kind of game both are suppose to lose, after a big win like they had.
That happened to Puille last time he beat Ferrer. And Monaco, even though he seems to be getting back his best level, he is always inconsistent. After these few months out of the court he looks mentally stronger.. I hope he keeps on that track.
Yeah. Tough one to call.
Juan Monaco has been showing very decent tennis defeating Johnson, Wawrinka and Anderson in Rome. Bet he won’t come short now. Read our full preview of the match
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Have a good day!
Walkover – Juan Monaco pulled out of the match due to an injury.
Giulio Fedele (Journalist): “Juan Monaco has officially withdrawn from Internazionali BNL d’Italia. Left side pain.”
Pouille didn’t lose a point!!
Pff.. he comes as a LL and with two wins is in the SF. That’s a Super LL.
Pouille livin’ the charmed life – large and in charge ?