Winston-Salem QF previews and picks: Janowicz vs. Goffin, Isner vs. Rosol

David Goffin takes his 25-match winning streak into the Winston-Salem quarterfinals on Thursday, when Jerzy Janowicz hopes to stop the in-form Belgian. John Isner and Lukas Rosol are also in action.

Jerzy Janowicz vs. (Q) David Goffin

Goffin will be looking to extend an incredible hot streak to 26 straight wins when he takes the court for quarterfinal action at the Winston-Salem Open on Thursday. The 62nd-ranked Belgian won three clay-court Challenger events in a row after Wimbledon and captured his first ATP title in Kitzbuhel before heading to the American hard courts. So far this week Goffin has successfully qualified for the main draw and posted wins over defending champion Jurgen Melzer, Hamburg winner Leonardo Mayer, and No. 15 seed Jarkko Nieminen.

Up next for the 23-year-old is a first-ever meeting with Janowicz, who earlier in the season had been almost as cold as Goffin is hot. Janowicz, who peaked at No. 13 in the world last summer, was a horrendous 13-18 for his 2014 campaign prior to Cincinnati. Suddenly, though, he is winning matches again. The 52nd-ranked Pole upset Grigor Dimitrov en route to the Cincinnati third round and he has scored Winston-Salem victories over Carlos Berlocq, Joao Sousa, and Edouard Roger-Vasselin. Goffin’s speed–to counter the Janowicz drop-shot–and consistent ball-striking should make this a bad matchup for Janowicz, who will have to serve incredibly well in order to have a chance. But he double-faulted 10 times against Sousa and nine times versus Roger-Vasselin.

Pick: Goffin in 2

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(1) John Isner vs. (7) Lukas Rosol

Isner and Rosol will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers on Thursday. This is Isner’s real hometown tournament and he has never disappointed the fans. The American is 12-0 lifetime in Winston-Salem, with titles in 2011 and 2012 plus straight-set victories this week over Bradley Klahn and Mikhail Kukushkin. Isner, in the midst of by far his favorite part of the season, is 31-15 for the season and he registers at No. 15 in the world.

Rosol booked his spot in the quarterfinals after getting a retirement from Ryan Harrison (the American was leading by a set) and overcoming Pablo Andujar 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 on Wednesday. This is the first hard-court event of the summer for the 33rd-ranked Czech, who went back to clay after Wimbledon and finished runner-up in Stuttgart before three consecutive quarterfinal appearances. Rosol is playing decent tennis right now, but there is no reason to think he can beat Isner in the United States in the American’s virtual backyard.

Pick: Isner in 2

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