Alexandr Dolgopolov will try to maintain his fine form when he faces Steve Johnson in the Tokyo second round on Thursday. Dolgopolov finished runner-up in Shenzhen last week, while Johnson is coming off a first-round upset of No. 2 seed Dominic Thiem.
(SE) Alexandr Dolgopolov vs. Steve Johnson
Johnson and Dolgopolov will be squaring off for the fourth time in their careers when they clash in round two of the Japan Open on Thursday. Dolgopolov leads the head-to-head series 2-1, although it is tied up at one win apiece on hard courts. Johnson got the best of their first encounter 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 two years ago in Vienna before Dolgopolov prevailed twice in a row; 7-5, 7-6(4) last season in Acapulco and 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) a few months later on the red clay of Madrid.
Whereas Johnson has been the healthier and more consistent of the two players since then, Dolgopolov is suddenly in stellar form. The 44th-ranked Ukrainian reached the fourth round of the U.S. Open, finished runner-up to David Goffin this past week in Shenzhen, and destroyed Daniil Medvedev 6-1, 6-2 in his Tokyo opener. Johnson earned his place in the last 16 by knocking out second-seeded Dominic Thiem 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 on Tuesday, improving his 2017 record to 27-18. This should be another good opportunity for the 46th-ranked American, because Dolgopolov’s body usually does not hold up well when he plays a bunch of matches in succession.
Pick: Johnson in 3
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(8) Diego Schwartzman vs. Bernard Tomic
It is a tale of two different seasons as Schwartzman and Tomic head into second-round action in Tokyo. Schwartzman owns 30 ATP-level match victories in 2017, four of which came en route to the U.S. Open quarterfinals, and he is up to No. 29 in the world. Tomic, on the other hand, has plunged to 162nd in the rankings due to both poor play and admitted disinterest. The 24-year-old Australian is 10-17 this season and he had not won a match since Eastbourne in late June before arriving in Tokyo.
This marks the third career head-to-head contest between these two players, with Schwartzman having taken their two previous meetings (both on clay). The 5’7” Argentine got the job done 6-2, 6-2 last spring in Istanbul and 6-1, 7-6(3) earlier this year in Monte-Carlo. Tomic scored a surprising upset of Joao Sousa to begin this week, but there is no reason to think he can string together two impressive efforts in a row. Count on Schwartzman’s fine form continuing.
Pick: Schwartzman in 2
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who ya got?
(Schwartz already destroyed Tomic)