St. Petersburg R1 previews and picks: Tursunov vs. Baghdatis, Mannarino vs. Donskoy

Dmitry Tursunov and Marcos Baghdatis will face each other in a blockbuster first-round matchup on Tuesday in St. Petersburg. Adrian Mannarino and Evgeny Donskoy are also in action.

Marcos Baghdatis vs. (4) Dmitry Tursunov

Tursunov and Baghdatis will be squaring off for the fourth time in their careers when they do battle in round one of the St. Petersburg Open on Tuesday. Baghdatis leads the head-to-head series 2-1, and all three of their previous encounters have come on hard courts. They most recently faced each other twice in 2012, with Baghdatis prevailing both times–6-4, 6-4 in Sydney and 6-2, 6-4 during the fall swing in Tokyo. Tursunov’s lone win over the Cypriot came at the 2005 U.S. Open via a 6-4, 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-2 decision.

Current form clearly favors Tursunov, who is 24-15 for the year. The 34th-ranked Russian reached the semifinals in Washington, D.C., qualified in Cincinnati and made a run to the quarters, advanced to the quarters in Winston-Salem, and won two matches at the U.S. Open. Baghdatis is a horrendous 13-17 for the season, but he has at least shown recent signs of life with a quarterfinal finish in Washington and a third-round performance at the U.S. Open.  The 48th-ranked Cypriot had been on a 10-match losing streak at the ATP level prior to Washington. Tursunov has the extra advantage of playing at home, so he should be able to get though a tough opening match.

Pick: Tursunov in 3

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Adrian Mannarino vs. Evgeny Donskoy

Mannarino and Donskoy will be meeting for the first time in their careers at the ATP main-draw level on Tuesday. They have clashed once at the qualifying stage, with Mannarino surviving 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(3) at the 2011 Auckland event. The Frenchman has been a stellar performer at Grand Slams of late. He reached the fourth round at Wimbledon and the third round at the U.S. Open before getting blown out by Roger Federer. Ranked 61st in the world, Mannarino owns eight ATP-level wins this season and all eight have come since the start of Wimbledon.

Donskoy also played well in New York, upsetting Winston-Salem champion Jurgen Melzer in round one en route to the last 32 (ultimately lost to Lleyton Hewitt in four sets). The 90th-ranked Russian has earned 11 of his 12 career ATP-level match victories in 2013. Donskoy wields a powerful forehand, so an indoor hard court may give him an advantage against an opponent who generally relies on on a variety of shots as opposed to pace. Home-court advantage should also help Donskoy, who has made a name for himself almost exclusively at smaller tournaments.

Pick: Donskoy in 3

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