Madrid third round
(1) Rafael Nadal vs. (14) Mikhail Youzhny: Nadal in 2. Nadal is coming off a three-hour, 18-minute match against Gilles Simon. That will at least help Youzhny make this one somewhat respectable.
Jurgen Melzer vs. (7) Andy Murray: Murray in 3. Murray is 5-0 in the head-to-head series, but a few of them have been extremely competitive. A solid straight-set win over Marcel Granollers suggests the Scot may be ready to make it 6-0.
(3) Stanislas Wawrinka vs. (15) Tommy Haas: Wawrinka in 2. This probably is not going to be a good matchup for Haas, whose serve and one-hander are good but not as good as those of Wawrinka.
(12) Grigor Dimitrov vs. (6) Tomas Berdych: Dimitrov in 3. They just faced each other in Madrid, where Berdych got the job done in three sets. But Dimitrov looks inspired this week and conditions at this event will help him more against Berdych than those in Madrid.
(8) Milos Raonic vs. (11) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: Raonic in 3. When at the top of his game, Tsonga would be able to overcome a discrepancy in free points won (advantage: Raonic) by outclassing the Canadian from the baseline. Right now, though, the Frenchman is not in that kind of form.
Ivan Dodig vs. Jeremy Chardy: Chardy in 2. Chardy’s upset of Roger Federer on Wednesday was a huge win, but it’s not like it was career-defining for the veteran Frenchman. He should be able to compose himself and refocus for an easier test against Dodig.
(5) David Ferrer vs. Ernests Gulbis: Ferrer in 3. Like Berdych and Dimitrov, these two also squared off in Madrid. Ferrer won in straights, but it was not easy. Look for Gulbis to steal a set this time, but slower conditions won’t help him get over the hump.
Philipp Kohlschreiber vs. (2) Novak Djokovic: Djokovic in 2. Djokovic got off to a good enough start in his comeback from a minor wrist injury, as he beat Radek Stepanek while making only nine unforced errors. Kohlschreiber also appears to lack belief against the very best.
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Agree with above except I am going for Berdy and Tsonga for the wins.
Kohls leading Novak 2-0 in the opening set.
What’s up here? Kohls coming out strong in the early going.
Wow…and he just broke Novak again and leads 3-0.
Well, at least Djokovic has an excuse: arm/wrist/hand……..
first set kohls…he always plays novak very tough… not surprised given how shakily novak has started
I am kind of surprised. I didn’t realize that Kohls has been a tough opponent for Novak. I know he has given Rafa trouble at times. He’s got the game, but hasn’t really done much lately to make me think he could take it to Novak.
Did anyone watch the Tsonga-Raonic match?
#ZeroInterest
Even Ricky can’t sum up enough enthusiasm to feature the Raonic-Chardy QF 🙂
Nope, I didn’t see it. Somehow I don’t think that I missed anything. 😉
At the best of times I am bored rigid watching Raonic. Same goes for most of the tall ace specialists who rely solely on their serve to get them out of trouble.