Second-round action in Vienna will begin on Wednesday with John Isner vs. Ernests Gulbis. The first round is wrapping up with en enticing showdown between veterans Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Tommy Haas.
Ernests Gulbis vs. (3) John Isner
Isner and Gulbis will be facing each other for the fifth time in their careers when they battle for a place in the Erste Bank Open quarterfinals on Wednesday. The head-to-head series stands at an even 2-2 following a whole host of competitive matches and also sets. Isner has won each of their past two contests in a pair of tiebreakers; 7-6(4), 7-6(2) on the indoor hard courts of Valencia in 2013 and 7-6(4), 7-6(3) last season in Indian Wells. Gulbis had previously prevailed 7-5, 7-5, 6-7(3), 7-6(6) in the 2008 Wimbledon first round and in a three-setter at the 2013 Monte-Carlo Masters.
It has been a tale of two seasons for these familiar foes. Isner started slow but has heated up to put himself in contention for a World Tour Finals alternate spot. The 13th-ranked American improved to 42-22 on the year after getting the best of Kenny De Schepper 7-6(4), 7-6(5) on Tuesday. A disastrous 2015 campaign has sent Gulbis plunging out of the top 100. The Latvian currently registers at No. 117 in the world, saddled with a 9-22 record at the ATP level this season. Gulbis at least managed to beat qualifier Lucas Miedler 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 on Monday. Isner has won two or more matches in three consecutive tournaments and the trend should continue at the expense of a slumping opponent.
Pick:Â Isner in 2
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(4) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. (WC) Tommy Haas
Tsonga is coming off a runner-up performance in Shanghai as he prepares to contest his first-round match in Vienna on Wednesday. The 10th-ranked Frenchman beat Kevin Anderson and Rafael Nadal last week before succumbing to Novak Djokovic. Tsonga also captured a title last month in Metz, so his 30-14 record in 2015 includes a 9-2 clip this fall.
An intriguing matchup with Haas on Wednesday will be the fourth of their careers. The head-to-head series stands at 2-1 in favor of the 37-year-old, who most recently defeated Tsonga 6-1, 6-4 on the clay courts of Munich in 2012. Their only previous hard-court meeting came five seasons ago at the Australian Open, where Tsonga scored a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 victory. Plagued more injuries, Haas is toiling at No. 466 in the world. The German has been competitive against decent opposition at times this season, but he has not won an ATP-level match since the Wimbledon opening round. Tsonga should benefit from basically three full days off and have enough left in the tank to take care of Haas.
Pick: Tsonga in 2
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It’s a pretty strong draw they have in Vienna.
Gulbis about to take on Isner who seems to be suffering from his knee and not moving very well. I haven’t seen Gulbis play for months probably more than that. He’s now ranked #117. Was he not in the top 20 not so long ago? There are loads of players lurking under the radar who can be dangerous on their day.
Top 10
and i dont see any knee problem for Isner
why is No. 117 in the world in round 2 of a 500 event “a strong draw.”
The ranking doesn’t matter it’s what they are capable of producing. You can never write Gulbis off whatever rank he is.
he usually plays worse when he is ranked high
Isner’s left knee is taped.
Yep!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CR2SihTUcAE5xYN.png
Isner takes the 2nd set.
I want to see Isner play Karlovic……………..what a freak show that would be. It might be another mafrathon.
they’ve played many times. Has never lived up to the hype.
Gulbis breaks in final set.
Gulbis 3-1
Isner is moving very gingerly with the left leg. I hope Gulbis wins to scupper all hopes of Isner getting to London. I don’t want ti see any giants there.
Isner moved fine. Gulbis was just surprisingly good.
Gulbis Wins
GSM – Gulbis 46 64 64
Wow gulbis won? Dang
Gulbis flew into the quarterfinals.
[Gulbis = a swan in Latvian language. 🙂 ]
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CR2Zl-kW0AAtZbL.png
wowzer
Good win for Gulbis, hopefully he will play better next year Gulbis shouldn’t be ranked117 he is much better.
well he has more talent. “better”? Maybe not.
He didn’t just beat Isner. He outperformed him at every level.
What a turn around for the erractic Latvian.
I agree with Ricky about Gulbis having more talent, but not necessarily being better. It takes more than innate talent to succeed in this sport. Gulbis hasn’t been willing to put in the hard work and practice required to achieve consistenly good results.
He was ranked # 10 last year and beat Fed at French Open, he is not # 117 player in the world he is better than that, in Cincinnati he had match points against Djokovic. How many # 117s have reached a SF at a majors and have wins over Federer, Djokovic, Del Potro, Murray and Berdych ?
i see your point but you are confusing talent with being good at tennis
Gulbis is more talented than just about everyone outside the top 5. But there are very few players in the top 100 whom he is better than at tennis.
Evan players such as Dudi Sela and Go Soeda are ranked ahead of Gulbis.
they are better than him at playing tennis
Gulbis=Verdasco
I dont relish watching Tsonga beat Haas up but at 37 (and a laundry list of injuries) there has to be a limited number of opportunites left to see Tommy in action. Jo-Wilfreid will be at a disadvantage due to his exploits last week and jet-lag so Haas has the chance to keep it competitve.
J-WT obviously slept well on the flight back from Shanghai. No sign of jet lag. On the contrary he is playing well and is aiming for that last spot in the WTF. Haas has no answers.
might get broken here
Thomas breaks
I’m just keeping track of the score on the Tsonga/Haas match because I don’t feel like watching Joe so soon after last Saturday as we’ll be reminded every second of what happened.
I have been watching the Tsonga/Hass match on the tennis channel. I thought Tsonga had it under control and then it went to a tb and Haas won. So they are in the third set.
Tsonga tired
Had feeling he would be. He still got it done though.
Gimeno?
I tried to get into Anderson/Haider-Maurer, but it’s just not happening for me.
I am glad that Tsonga got the job done.
The tennis channel is showing Vienna now, but their schedule indicates that they will be showing Stockholm later on. I want to see Sock and and Nando.