RICKY DIMON CHECKS IN FOR 10SBALLS ON STAN WAWRINKA & DOMINIC THIEM PRIOR TO THE FRENCH OPEN TENNIS

Written by: Staff on 18th May 2016

RICKY DIMON CHECKS IN FOR 10SBALLS ON STAN WAWRINKA & DOMINIC THIEM PRIOR TO THE FRENCH OPEN TENNIS

epa05312484 Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka returns the ball to Spain's Albert Ramos-Vinolas during their secound round match of the Geneva Open ATP 250 tennis tournament in Geneva, Switzerland, 17 May 2016. EPA/LAURENT GILLIERON |

Stan Wawrinka is the defending champion of the French Open, so the overwhelmingly good memories will surely coming flooding in when he finds himself at Roland Garros starting next week. He also held off Rafael Nadal for the No. 4 seed, so he cannot face top-ranked Novak Djokovic until at least the semifinals. But that is where the good news ends for the fourth-ranked Swiss, as his record is just 6-5 in his last 11 matches since capturing the Dubai title in February.

The story is a similar one for Dominic Thiem. Although the Austrian owns the second most wins on tour this season behind Djokovic and is coming off a quarterfinal performance in Rome, he still is not as on fire as he was earlier in 2016 when he lifted winner’s trophies in Buenos Aires and Acapulco.

Both Wawrinka and Thiem are in the quarters of their respective tournaments this week as they look to regain–or maintain–momentum prior to the year’s second Grand Slam.

Geneva Open: (1) Stan Wawrinka vs. Pablo Carreno Busta

Wawrinka and Carreno Busta will be squaring off for the second time in their careers when they collide in the Geneva quarterfinals on Thursday. Their only previous encounter came on the clay courts of Oeiras in 2013, when Wawrinka prevailed 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. The No. 1 seed is the defending champion of the upcoming French Open, but he is in dire need of a confidence boost prior to next week. Wawrinka was just 5-5 in his last 10 matches heading into Geneva, where he kicked off his campaign with a 6-1, 6-1 defeat of Albert Ramos-Vinolas on Tuesday.

Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain returns the ball to Jo Wilfried Tsonga of France during their second round match at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters tennis tournament in Roquebrune Cap Martin, France, 12 April 2016. EPA/SEBASTIEN NOGIER

Carreno Busta benefited from playing in a section of the draw vacated by Philipp Kohlschreiber. The Spaniard ousted qualifier Christian Garin 6-2, 7-5 in the first round before cruising past countryman Inigo Cervantes 6-2, 6-4. Carreno Busta owns 18 ATP-level match wins this year and he finished runner-up in Estoril earlier in May. The discrepancy in offensive firepower, however, may be too great for the world No. 43 to overcome in this one. Moreover, Wawrinka has home-court advantage and will be eager to get in some more match practice before traveling to Paris.

Pick: Wawrinka in 2

Open de Nice Cote d’Azur: (1) Dominic Thiem vs. (7) Andreas Seppi

Thiem captured an ATP title for the first time in his career at the 2015 Nice event and his title got off to a strong start with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Leonardo Mayer on Wednesday. Although a withdrawal from Nice may have been seen as the intelligent route given that Thiem just reached the Rome quarters and has the French Open on his plate in the immediate future, he has never seemed too concerned with a heavy workload. The world No. 15 has played 43 matches this season and has won 33 of them.

Up next for Thiem is Seppi, whom he has never faced. The veteran Italian is through to just his second quarterfinal of 2016 and this marks only the second time this year he has won back-to-back matches at an event. Seppi earned a spot in Thursday’s contest by beating both Daniel Munoz de la Nava and Paul-Henri Mathieu in three sets. A huge step up in competition will likely bring an end what has already been a stellar week for Seppi.

Pick: Thiem in 2