Richard Gasquet and Vasek Pospisil will be facing each other for the second time in as many tournaments on Tuesday in Toronto. Fabio Fognini and Mikhail Youzhny are also in first-round action.
(12) Richard Gasquet vs. Vasek Pospisil
Gasquet and Pospisil will be squaring off for the second time in four days when they meet again in round one of the Rogers Cup on Tuesday. They just went head-to-head in the Washington, D.C. semifinals, a showdown that saw Pospisil trail 3-0 in the third set before storming back to win 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-5. The Canadian is now 2-0 lifetime against Gasquet, having also prevailed 6-3, 6-4 last fall in Shanghai.
Last week’s setback may not be a bad thing for Gasquet, who is a decent 23-13 for his 2014 campaign. Pospisil is rounding into form with two straight quarterfinal finishes followed by his runner-up performance in Washington, D.C., but he looked seriously fatigued in a 6-1, 6-4 final loss to countryman Milos Raonic. The world No. 27 must also deal with the pressure of playing at home and defending semifinal points from last summer in Montreal.
Pick: Gasquet in 3
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Mikhail Youzhny vs. (16) Fabio Fognini
You never know what you are going to get from Fognini on any given day, but recent results are not encouraging. The 19th-ranked Italian has not won more than two matches at any tournament since Munich, several weeks before the French Open. He is 8-8 in his last 16 matches dating back to the Munich final. This will be Fognini’s first outing on a hard court since a blowout loss to Rafael Nadal in the Miami fourth round.
Similarly, Youzhny is also contesting his first hard-court match since Dubai without the benefit of strong current form to give him confidence. The 23rd-ranked Russian is just 11-15 at the ATP level this season. The good news for Youzhny is that he often plays his best tennis during the summer hard-court swing. A U.S. Open quarterfinalist last year, Youzhny takes advantage of fast hard courts with flat, punishing groundstrokes. Fognini is capable of doing the same, but chances are good that he will lose focus a lot earlier than his opponent.
Pick: Youzhny in 2
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