Washington, D.C. R2 previews and predictions: Monfils vs. Lu, Baghdatis vs. Millman

Entertainers and fan favorites Gael Monfils and Marcos Baghdatis will contest their Washington, D.C. openers on Wednesday. Monfils is facing Yen-Hsun Lu, while Baghdatis has a battle with John Millman on his hands.

Yen-Hsun Lu vs. (2) Gael Monfils

Monfils will be aiming for his first match win since early May when he takes the court for second-round action at the Citi Open on Wednesday. What was once looking like a potential World Tour Finals campaign has been derailed by both a groin injury and an illness that sidelined him from the French Open. The 17th-ranked Frenchman finished runner-up in Rotterdam and at the Monte-Carlo Masters in addition to quarterfinal performances at the Australian Open, in Indian Wells, and in Miami. He played only one grass-court match, losing right away at Wimbledon to countryman Jeremy Chardy in five sets.

Up first for Monfils in Washington, D.C. is Lu, who trails the head-to-head series 2-0. They have not faced each other since waging a five-set battle in Melbourne three years ago, when Monfils survived 7-6(5), 4-6, 0-6, 6-1, 8-6. Lu missed the first four months of the season due to elbow surgery, but his comeback has been impressive. The world No. 71 from Chinese Taipei owns two Challenger titles, two Challenger runner-up trophies, and he advanced one-round at the All-England Club before succumbing to eventual champion Andy Murray. Lu kicked off this week by beating Austin Krajicek 6-1, 7-6(3). Monfils is probably too rusty and not motivated enough to get the job done without any fuss, but his firepower will likely be too much for Lu in the end.

Pick: Monfils in 3

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John Millman vs. (15) Marcos Baghdatis

Baghdatis and Millman will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers at the ATP level on Wednesday. In the Wimbledon second round last year, Baghdatis scraped out a 6-7(5), 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 comeback victory. Fast forward 12 months and Millman may be an even tougher customer now. The 27-year-old Australian owns 13 of his 20 career ATP match wins this season and has climbed to 65th in the rankings. A third-round performer at the All-England Club (like Lu, he also lost to Murray), Millman opened on Monday in Washington, D.C. with a 7-5, 6-0 beatdown of Denis Kudla.

With a decent 17-14 record for the 2016 campaign, Baghdatis is coming off a solid but unspectacular grass-court swing. The 41st-ranked Cypriot advanced to the semifinals in Newport and quarterfinals in Halle and Nottingham to go along with first-round exits in Stuttgart (to Jan-Lennard Struff) and Wimbledon (to John Isner). Baghdatis has done some of his finest work over the years during the American summer hard-court season and his ball-striking may be just good enough to hold off Millman in what should be a high-quality affair.

Pick: Baghdatis in 3

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