St. Petersburg previews and predictions: Wawrinka vs. Rosol, Youzhny vs. Tipsarevic

Stan Wawrinka will be back in action for the first time since winning the U.S. Open when he takes the court against Lukas Rosol during second-round action in St. Petersburg on Wednesday. Mikhail Youzhny and Janko Tipsarevic are wrapping up the first round.

(1) Stan Wawrinka vs. Lukas Rosol

Wawrinka skipped Switzerland’s recent Davis Cup playoff tie against Uzbekistan, so he will have enjoyed more than a full week off by the time he suits up for his second-round match at the St. Petersburg Open on Wednesday. The third-ranked Swiss, of course, is coming off his third career Grand Slam title–which he captured at the U.S. Open earlier this month. Wawrinka had been 5-5 in his last 10 matches heading into New York and he struggled at times during the first week (even requiring a match-point save against Daniel Evans) before picking up the pace to beat Juan Martin Del Potro, Kei Nishikori, and Novak Djokovic in succession.

Up first for the No. 1 seed this week is Rosol, who has never defeated Wawrinka in five attempts. The two veterans most recently faced each other in round one of this season’s French Open, with the favorite surviving 4-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Three of their five meetings–including each of their two best-of-three contests–have gone the distance. Rosol was an awful 1-7 in his last eight matches prior to this fall swing, but a return to indoor hard courts may be just what the doctor ordered. The 85th-ranked Czech certainly benefited from the conditions against Diego Schwartzman on Monday and he took care of the Argentine 6-4, 6-4. Wawrinka will likely be fatigued–mentally, if not physically–so this is a good opportunity for Rosol to finally get over the hump against his nemesis.

Pick: Rosol in 3

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(PR) Janko Tipsarevic vs. Mikhail Youzhny

Youzhny and Tipsarevic will be squaring off for the eighth time in their careers and for the first time in more than three years when they meet again on Wednesday. The head-to-head series stands at 4-3 in favor of Youzhny, who has won four of their last five encounters. Due in part to injuries sustained by both men (mostly in Tipsarevic’s case), they have not faced each other since 2013. Their only previous showdown in Russia, also on an indoor hard court, came in 2009 when Youzhny got the job done 6-7(5), 6-0, 6-4 in Moscow.

Back up to No. 53 in the world after plunging out of the top 150 last fall, Youzhny rebuilt his ranking at the Challenger level earlier in 2016 and he is now winning matches again on the main tour. The 34-year-old Russian has advanced to at least the second round in five consecutive ATP events, a stretch that includes a quarterfinal performance in Gstaad and a third-round showing at the U.S. Open. Tipsarevic is on his way back from a recurring foot problem and he is 3-6 at the ATP level for the season to go along with a Challenger title last month in Qingdao, China. The 32-year-old Serb picked up a big U.S. Open win over Sam Querrey before bowing out to Pablo Carreno Busta in five sets. Tipsarevic is clearly competitive again, but a relatively in-form Youzhny should take care of business at home.

Pick: Youzhny in 2

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