BNP Paribas Masters
Second round
Dominic Thiem vs. (3) Stan Wawrinka: Wawrinka has not won a single tournament match since the U.S. Open (0-3). He also lost to Thiem earlier this season in Madrid. Thiem in 3.
Richard Gasquet vs. (11) Roberto Bautista Agut: This is a toss-up on paper. A slight edge should go to Gasquet based on home-court advantage and the fact that RBA may have some kind of abdominal issue. Gasquet in 3.
Julien Benneteau vs. (8) Andy Murray: Tommy Robredo bounced back from the Valencia Open marathon to win his first-round match. Murray gets an extra day of rest, too. But Robredo had extra incentive after losing whereas Murray may be content with his fall swing and with the fact that he is now almost a lock for the World Tour Finals. Benneteau in 3.
Jeremy Chardy vs. (2) Roger Federer: Chardy beat Federer earlier this season in a Rome third-set tiebreaker. Who cares? Federer is in amazing form right now and that one was on clay. Federer in 2.
(10) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. (PR) Jurgen Melzer: Who knows what will happen in this one? Tsonga is rusty but is well-rested and playing at home. Melzer has been injured but made mincemeat out of Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in round one. Either pick is dangerous. Tsonga is less dangerous in France. Tsonga in 3.
Gael Monfils vs. (13) John Isner: Monfils and Isner have played each other seven times. None has come close to disappointing. None has ended in straight sets, too. Monfils looked good on Tuesday in his latest return from injury and the relatively slow surface will help him bigtime against Isner. But count on another thriller. Monfils in 3.
(7) Milos Raonic vs. (Q) Jack Sock: Sock is on fire; Raonic is the opposite. Sock has no pressure on him; Raonic has to win in order to have a chance of qualifying for the World Tour Finals. Sock’s Royals won Game 6; Raonic doesn’t know what baseball is. Sock in 3.
(4) David Ferrer vs. (SE) David Goffin: Goffin is 44-3 since Wimbledon and showed no signs of slowing down despite a long week in Basel when he disposed of Lukas Rosol on Tuesday. What he does not have in the streak is a signature win over a top player. Ferrer, trying to wrap up a spot in London, won’t let it happen. Ferrer in 3.
(Q) Sam Querrey vs. (12) Feliciano Lopez: Querrey’s decision to vulture Challenger after Challenger earlier this fall my have seemed questionable at the time, but it is paying off. Now playing with a ton of confidence, the 6’6” American is making his form translate to the ATP level. Querrey in 3.
(9) Grigor Dimitrov vs. Pablo Cuevas: Dimitrov still has an outside shot at the World Tour Finals. He would prefer the surface to be a little bit faster with Cuevas on the other side of the net, but the Bulgarian should still have a considerable advantage on an indoor hard court. Dimitrov in 2.
(16) Fabio Fognini vs. (Q) Lucas Pouille: It has been a dream week for the Frenchman, who qualified for the main draw then took down Ivo Karlovic with surprising ease. Now he gets a dream second-round draw. Pouille in 3.
Tommy Robredo vs. (6) Kei Nishikori: Wouldn’t you know it–after Robredo’s epic Valencia final against Murray, he played another third-set tiebreaker on Tuesday against Vasek Pospisil. This is probably where the Spaniard finally gives out. Nishikori in 2.
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you are not realling good in predicting matches
but i’m better at it than you are at spelling!!!!!
and i’m a lot better than you, who got 0 correct today!
i think predictions are called predictions for a reason, and are never expected to be accurate, appreciate your work ricky, chardy seemed to fair quite well against fed (most of their recent matches were relatively competitive from what I recall)