A pair of intriguing quarterfinal clashes are on the Friday schedule in Rotterdam. David Goffin and Tomas Berdych are squaring off for the first time since a double-bagel by Goffin in 2016, while Grigor Dimitrov and Andrey Rublev are meeting for the third time in their careers.
Andrey Rublev vs. (2) Grigor Dimitrov
Dimitrov and Rublev will be facing each other for the third time in their careers and for the third time dating back to last summer when they battle for a spot in the semifinals of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament on Friday. They have split their two previous showdowns, with Rublev pulling off a 7-5, 7-6(3), 6-3 upset at the U.S. Open before Dimitrov got revenge via a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 decision at last month’s Australian Open. Overall it was a rocky Aussie Open campaign for Dimitrov, who managed to persevere through some shaky performances, picked up the pace to beat Nick Kyrgios, and then fell to Kyle Edmund in the quarterfinals. The reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion is 8-2 this season following competitive but straight-set Rotterdam victories over Yuichi Sugita and Filip Krajinovic.
The offseason has done nothing to halt the momentum of Rublev, who announced himself as a force on tour thanks in part to his U.S. Open quarterfinal performance. The 20-year-old, who finished runner-up in Doha to Gael Monfils, snagged a seed at the Aussie Open and is still hovering right around that number at No. 34 in the world. Rublev booked his spot in this matchup with straight-set wins over Lucas Pouille and Damir Dzumhur, improving his 2018 record to 10-3. The red-hot Russian will have a better chance than he did in Melbourne of hitting through Dimtrov’s defense on this Rotterdam surface, just as he did last summer in New York.
Pick: Rublev in 3
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(6) Tomas Berdych vs. (4) David Goffin
Berdych will get a chance for redemption when he goes up against Goffin on Friday. They have not faced each other since a showdown at the 2016 Rome Masters, where Goffin earned an alarming 6-0, 6-0 double-bagel. Still, Berdych leads the head-to-head series 2-1; he prevailed 7-5, 6-3, 6-3 at the 2012 U.S. Open and 6-3, 6-4 on the indoor hard courts of Marseille early in the 2016 season. Fast forward two years since their last encounters and it is Goffin who finds himself in superior form. The world No. 7 finished runner-up at the Nitto ATP Finals to conclude his 2017 campaign and he 7-2 this season following respective 6-1, 6-3 Rotterdam beatdowns of Nicolas Mahut and Feliciano Lopez.
Last season was not a good one for Berdych, but he appears to be enjoying somewhat of a resurgence at the moment. The 32-year-old Czech, who registers 10 spots behind Goffin at 17th in the rankings, is 6-2 for his 2018 campaign with a quarterfinal run at the Australian Open (lost to eventual champion Roger Federer) and straight-set victories this week over Mishca Zverev and Viktor Troicki. Berdych will fare much better indoors than he did against Goffin on clay (it’s mathematically impossible to do any worse!), but the Belgian’s ball-striking an ability to combat pace will likely get the best of Berdych in the end.
Pick: Goffin in 2
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WYG?
Goffin in 3
Dimitrov in 3