Shenzhen R2 previews and picks: Gasquet vs. Muller, Pospisil vs. Monaco

Richard Gasquet will kick off his Shenzhen campaign on Wednesday against Gilles Muller. Vasek Pospisil and Juan Monaco are also bidding for a place in the quarterfinals.

Gilles Muller vs. (3) Richard Gasquet

Gasquet and Muller will be squaring off for the fourth time in their careers when they clash in round two of the Shenzhen Open on Wednesday. Muller leads the head-to-head series 2-1, including 2-0 on hard courts. Gasquet’s lone win over the Luxembourgian came back in 2005 at Wimbledon, where he prevailed 7-6(3), 6-3, 6-3. Muller won 6-3, 6-4 in the Metz quarterfinals and 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) last year in Marseille.

Although he did not have a great hard-court summer, Gasquet may be able to take momentum from a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 Davis Cup blowout of Tomas Berdych on the clay of Roland Garros with him into his next foray onto the hard stuff. That romp improved the 21st-ranked Frenchman’s 2014 record to a decent 28-14. Muller has been spending most of his time this season cleaning up on the Challenger circuit. The ATP level has been more of a struggle for the world No. 60, but he battled past Marco Chiudinelli 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 on Tuesday. This is not the easiest of openers for Gasquet, but the third seed has to be feeling good about himself following his Davis Cup performance.

Pick: Gasquet in 3

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(7) Vasek Pospisil vs. Juan Monaco

Pospisil and Monaco will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers on Wednesday. Monaco has won both of their previous encounters; 7-5, 6-4 at the 2012 Rogers Cup and 6-3, 6-4 in another hard-court meeting a few months later in Kuala Lumpur. Pospisil is a much different player now, however, at 24 years old. The Canadian struggled early this season with back injury, but he has been in stellar form in both singles and doubles since the start of the summer. Pospisil avenged a French Open loss by beating Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-3, 6-4 in his Shenzhen opener on Tuesday.

Monaco, on the other hand, has been going in the opposite direction since 2012. The 30-year-old Argentine is just 17-17 for the season and he is toiling down at 97th in the world. Monaco earned his first hard-court victory since the Indian Wells first round by getting past countryman Federico Delbonis 6-3, 7-5 on Monday. Clay would give the underdog a good chance in this one, but surface and current form favor Pospisil.

Pick: Pospisil in 2

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