Two of the four quarterfinal showdowns on Thursday in Winston-Salem are all-seeded affairs. Fernando Verdasco is facing Gael Monfils and Jurgen Melzer is going up against Dmitry Tursunov.
(7) Fernando Verdasco vs. (15) Gael Monfils
Verdasco and Monfils will be squaring off for the third time in their careers when they clash in the quarterfinals of the Winston-Salem Open on Thursday. Monfils has won both of their previous encounters; 7-5, 6-4 on the clay courts of Monte-Carlo in 2008 and 6-7(4), 7-6(2), 7-5 indoors at the Paris Masters in 2010. The 43rd-ranked Frenchman has once again been dealing with injuries, but he is a solid 27-16 for the year. So far this week he has dismissed Guido Pella and fourth-seeded Tommy Robredo.
A slow start to the 2013 campaign plagued Verdasco, but he is heating up right now. The 30th-ranked Spaniard reached the quarters at Wimbledon, finished runner-up in Bastad, then added clay-court quarterfinals in Hamburg and Kitzbuhel. This is Verdasco’s first hard-court tournament of the summer and it has begun with scalps of Tim Smyczek and Robin Haase. Consecutive three-setters may help the seventh seed get settled on this surface, but it probably is not ideal preparation for a grinding baseline battle against Monfils.
Pick: Monfils in 3
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(13) Dmitry Tursunov vs. (9) Jurgen Melzer
Melzer and Tursunov will be facing each other for the sixth time in their careers on Thursday. Tursunov leads the head-to-head series 3-2, including 2-1 on hard courts. They last met on two occasions in 2011, with the Russian prevailing 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 indoors in Marseille before Melzer scored a 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(1) victory on the grass courts of Wimbledon.
Tursunov is in resurgent form now that he is armed with a clean bill of health after enduring all kinds of physical problems. The world No. 35 is 22-13 for the season following wins this week over David Goffin and Alex Bogomolov. Melzer booked his spot in the last eight by taking out Thiemo De Bakker and Benoit Paire. The 32nd-ranked Austrian is a modest 19-21 for the year, which includes a quarterfinal finish in Miami and a fourth-round showing at Wimbledon. Tursunov is generally a player who stays hot for a while once he gains confidence, so he should have a slight edge in this one based on current form.
Pick: Tursunov in 3
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Great to see Tursonov back on form again after years of injury problems. He was always fun to watch back in ’07/’08 although he was pretty hot headed in those days. He seems to have matured in the intervening years!