Stuttgart R2 previews and predictions: Thiem vs. Groth, Del Potro vs. Millman

Dominic Thiem will be looking to build on his French Open semifinal run when he takes the court against Sam Groth on Thursday in Stuttgart. Juan Martin Del Potro and John Millman are also aiming for a place in the quarterfinals.

(3) Dominic Thiem vs. Sam Groth

Thiem is No. 2 on the ATP Tour in wins this season heading into the grass-court swing, trailing only world No. 1 Novak Djokovic. Of course, part of the reason why he has picked up 41 victories is that he has played a whopping 52 matches. But the heavy workload does not appear to be fazing the 22-year-old Austrian, whose 2016 campaign only got better with a run to the French Open semifinals (lost to eventual champion Djokovic).

Getting right back in action on grass, Thiem will begin his week at the Mercedes Cup on Thursday with Groth on the other side of the net. Their only previous meeting came a few months ago on the hard courts of Miami, where the current world No. 7 cruised 7-5, 6-2. Grass will give Groth a much better chance. The 115th-ranked Australian advanced to the quarterfinals of this tournament last summer and he reached the Wimbledon third round before taking a set off Roger Federer. Groth has already played on grass this month, as he went back to the Challenger tour after getting destroyed 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 by Rafael Nadal in round one at Roland Garros. He made a quarterfinal appearance in Manchester and opened in Stuttgart with a 7-5, 6-4 defeat of Illya Marchenko. Thiem’s motivation for another long week has to be called into question, and this is a surface on which Groth could capitalize on a fatigued opponent.

Pick: Groth in 3

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John Millman vs. (WC) Juan Martin Del Potro

Del Potro and Millman will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers on Thursday. Although Del Potro appears to be healthy and getting healthier, he is slow-playing his latest comeback and skipped the second half of the clay-court swing. After compiling a 3-2 record in Munich and Madrid, the 27-year-old Argentine announced he would sit out from the French Open and start preparing on grass. That strategy at least began to pay off with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Grigor Dimitrov on Tuesday.

Millman punched his ticket to the last 16 by beating eighth-seeded Lucas Pouille 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-4. The world No. 66 owns more than half of his career match wins (nine of 16) this season, a number that includes a third-round showing at the Australian Open and a quarterfinal performance in Montpellier. Millman qualified for the Wimbledon main draw in 2015 and made it to the second round before squandering two-set lead against Marcos Baghdatis. The 26-year-old Australian is not playing as well as he was earlier in the season, whereas Del Potro seems to be firmly on the upswing.

Pick: Del Potro in 2

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