RICKY’S DAY 3 PICKS AT THE U.S. OPEN, INCLUDING LOPEZ VS. FISH AND GOFFIN VS. BERANKIS

Written by: Staff on 1st September 2015

RICKY'S DAY 3 PICKS AT THE U.S. OPEN, INCLUDING LOPEZ VS. FISH AND GOFFIN VS. BERANKIS |

Ricky’s Day 3 picks at the U.S. Open, including Lopez vs. Fish and Goffin vs. Berankis

By Ricky Dimon

Mardy Fish will hope to keep his career alive when he takes the court against Feliciano Lopez during second-round action at the U.S. Open. Among those also in action are David Goffin, Ricardas Berankis, Milos Raonic, and Fernando Verdasco.

Previews and picks for some of Wednesday’s schedule:

(PR) Mardy Fish vs. (18) Feliciano Lopez

If you believe in fairytale endings, Fish will make a real run at the U.S. Open–the last tournament of his career. It sure sets up nicely for him. Marco Cecchinato was a dream draw in round one, Lopez is beatable, Milos Raonic or Fernando Verdasco (round three) have been struggling, and this is not your normal Rafael Nadal (round four). While a quarterfinal still is too much to expect, beating Lopez is by no means out of the question. Fish played well in Cincinnati and in his last three sets against Cecchinato after a nervous opener. The American is also 5-3 lifetime and has won five of the last six meetings with Lopez. But Fish better get it done in three or four, because his ability to go five–having not done so in so long–is a question mark. Fish in 4.

Ricardas Berankis vs. (14) David Goffin

On paper, facing the No. 14 seed in the second round is not a bad draw for any unseeded player. But this has nightmare written all over it for Berankis. Even with both players at full strength, this is a bad matchup for the Lithuanian. They play a similar style–flat, hard hitting, great ball-striking, impressive movement–but Goffin can do everything Berankis can do and can do just about all of it better. Moreover, Goffin cruised through round one while Berankis won an epic struggle with Joao Sousa in a fifth-set tiebreaker–complete with cramping (during) and throwing up (afterward). It will be tough for the underdog to recover. Goffin in 3.

(10) Milos Raonic vs. Fernando Verdasco

Raonic has pretty much been a non-factor on tour since a foot injury sidelined him from the French Open. He is starting to show at least some signs of his 2014 and early 2015 self, but he will have to do a lot more than beat Tim Smyczek (his first-round opponent) in order to instill confidence in his ability to make serious noise at a major. Verdasco has not exactly been setting the world on fire, either, but he defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Cincinnati and did well to come back from two sets to one down against Tommy Haas on Monday. Unless Raonic serves ridiculously well and can dictate points on a consistent basis, his baseline game will get broken down by the Spaniard. Verdasco in 4.

Sam Groth vs. (26) Tommy Robredo

Death, taxes, and Tommy Robredo in the fourth round of Grand Slams: the three certainties of life. With Kei Nishikori already gone, the draw sets up perfectly for Robredo to reach the last 16 of yet another major. Of course, first thing’s first–he will have to beat Groth in order to book a spot in round three. The Spaniard handled Groth in an outdoor hard-court match last fall. Although the Aussie is playing far better now than he was then, Robredo should still have an edge. The veteran positively loves this tournament and Groth will have to sustain a an incredibly high level of serving for an extended period of time (best-of-five) in order to have a chance. Robredo in 4.

Diego Schwartzman vs. (8) Rafael Nadal

Nadal will get Louis Armstrong Stadium treatment on Wednesday afternoon at the U.S. Open, as defending champion Marin Cilic plays inside Arthur Ashe. The eighth-seeded Spaniard was featured during the night session on Monday and won a high-quality showdown against Borna Coric in four sets. Is this the start of a 2015 turnaround for Nadal? Schwartman is in the midst of a breakout year on tour, at least at the ATP level. Eleven of his 14 such match wins in his career have come in 2015, including a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 rout of Elias Ymer during first-round action in Flushing Meadows. Despite being in fine form, Schwartzman stands at just 5’7” and does not have the necessary weapons with which to seriously trouble Nadal. Nadal in 3.

Benoit Paire vs. Marsel Ilhan

Their only previous encounter came three seasons ago on the clay courts of Barcelona, where Paire won a qualifying thriller 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(5). Speaking of thrillers, the Frenchman won an even more dramatic affair in the U.S. Open first round. Kei Nishikori, who finished runner-up in 2014, ran into a red-hot Paire and went down in stunning fashion–a 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-4 defeat in which the world No. 4 missed two match points in the fourth-set tiebreaker. As for Ilhan, this is his seventh trip to the second round of a Grand Slam (second at the U.S. Open), but he has never advanced past this stage. Paire in 4.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: 10sballs.com, 2015 US Open, Atp World Tour, David Goffin, Feliciano Lopez, Fernando Verdasco, Mardy Fish, milos raonic, Rafa Nadal, Ricardas Berankis, Ricky Dimon, Tennis News, US Open tennis

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10sBalls_com says:

September 1, 2015 at 10:05 pm

-@Dimonator’s DAY 3 PICKS AT THE @usopen, INCLUDING @feliciano_lopez VS. @MardyFish AND @David__Goffin VS. BERANKIS- http://t.co/UGI6TFUYJn