10SBALLS REPORTING FROM PARIS TENNIS SHARES RICKY’S PICKS FOR SUNDAY AT ROLAND GARROS, INCLUDING MURRAY VS. ISNER & NISHIKORI VS. GASQUET AT THE FRENCH OPEN 2016

Written by: Staff on 28th May 2016

French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros

10SBALLS REPORTING FROM PARIS TENNIS SHARES RICKY'S PICKS FOR SUNDAY AT ROLAND GARROS, INCLUDING MURRAY VS. ISNER & NISHIKORI VS. GASQUET AT THE FRENCH OPEN 2016

epa05332234 Kei Nishikori of Japan in action against Fernando Verdasco of Spain during their men's single third round match at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 27 May 2016.??? EPA/ROBERT GHEMENT |

By Ricky Dimon

Yesterday it was Ivo Karlovic. Tomorrow it will be John Isner. Such is the life for Andy Murray at the French Open, where his quest for a third Grand Slam title and first in Paris will continue on Sunday. Kei Nishikori and Richard Gasquet are also aiming for a quarterfinal spot in what will be their third meeting of this current clay-court swing.

(15) John Isner vs. (2) Andy Murray

Murray and Isner will be going head-to-head for the sixth time in their careers when fourth-round action begins at Roland Garros. All five of their previous contests have gone Murray’s way, but only two have ended in straight sets and all five–not at all surprisingly–have featured at least one tiebreaker. Their last four encounters, in particular, have been especially competitive. Isner stole a set in three of the four and the other resulted in a tough 7-6(4), 6-3, 7-6(4) Davis Cup scoreline in 2015 when Murray benefited from home-court advantage in Great Britain. They most recently squared last fall in Shanghai, where Isner took the opening set before succumbing 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4.

Andy Murray of Britain reacts as he plays Ivo Karlovic of Croatia during their men’s single third round match at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 27 May 2016. EPA/ETIENNE LAURENT

Combined, these two players have survived three five-setters on their journeys to the French Open fourth round. Unexpectedly, it is Murray who has endured two matches that went the distance. The second-ranked Scot battled past qualifier Radek Stepanek 3-6, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3, 7-5 in his opener before overcoming little-known French wild card Mathias Bourgue 6-2, 2-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. But in an ideal warmup for facing Isner, Murray picked up the pace to defeat Ivo Karlovic 6-1, 6-4, 7-6(3) on Friday. In between a straight-set rout of Kyle Edmund, Isner twice persevered through scary situations. The 6’10” American recovered from a set and a break down to defeat John Millman 6-7(4), 7-6(12), 7-6(7), 7-5 in round one and most recently edged Teymuraz Gabashvili 7-6(7), 4-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 after trailing 2-0 in the fifth set.

Although success had not been forecasted by the mediocrity of Isner’s year prior to this tournament, he is no stranger to making noise at Roland Garros. Isner also reached the last 16 in 2014 and he pushed Nadal to five sets in the 2011 opening round. The 15th seed is likely to make this one a test from start to finish, but Murray has always feasted on big servers and Isner is no exception to that rule.

Pick: Murray in 4

(5) Kei Nishikori vs. (9) Richard Gasquet

Isner will hope to begin turning the tide against Murray just as Nishikori has managed to do at Gasquet’s expense. Prior to this month, Gasquet was enjoying an improbable 6-0 head-to-head series weep over the world No. 6. The Frenchman had prevailed five times on hard courts and once on grass, but clay–and not to mention Nishikori’s rise to the upper echelons of the rankings–has yielded a change in fortunes. Nishikori got the best of Gasquet 6-4, 7-5 at the recent Madrid Masters before prevailing 6-1, 6-4 in Rome.

On the bright side for Gasquet, he has been sparkling in front of the French crowd so far this week. Of the eight remaining players in the bottom half of the bracket, only Gasquet and Milos Raonic have refused to drop even a single set. The world No. 12 booked his spot in the last 16 by rolling over Thomaz Bellucci, Bjorn Fratangelo, and Nick Kyrgios. Nishikori also had things in cruise control during wins over Simone Bolelli and Andrey Kuznetsov, and for a while he seemed to be making similar work of Fernando Verdasco on Friday. Although the Spaniard fought back valiantly, Nishikori survived 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 6-4. The Japanese star is now 32-9 for his 2016 campaign, which is highlighted by a fourth straight title in Memphis, a runner-up performance in Barcelona, and semifinal finishes in Madrid and Rome.

An in-form Gasquet should be able to make this more competitive than their two most recent meetings, but Nishikori is arguably looking like the second best player in this tournament right now.

Pick: Nishikori in 4