10SBALLS SHARES RICKY’S PICKS FOR THE WASHINGTON, D.C. TENNIS THIRD ROUND, INCLUDING MONFILS VS. CORIC AND ISNER VS. BAGHDATIS

Written by: Staff on 20th July 2016

10SBALLS SHARES RICKY'S PICKS FOR THE WASHINGTON, D.C. TENNIS THIRD ROUND, INCLUDING MONFILS VS. CORIC AND ISNER VS. BAGHDATIS

epa05434071 Gael Monfils of France in action against Yen-Hsun Lu of Taiwan during a second round match at the CITI Open tennis tournament at the Rock Creek Park Tennis Center in Washington, DC, USA, 20 July 2016. Monfils defeated Lu. EPA/ERIK S. LESSER |

By Ricky Dimon

An impressive array of Americans are still alive at the Citi Open, where the entire third-round slate will be held on Thursday. Top seed John Isner is going up against Marcos Baghdatis, while Wimbledon quarterfinals Sam Querrey is facing Alexandr Dolgopolov. Gael Monfils and Borna Coric are also in action.

Ricky previews the action and makes his predictions.

(16) Borna Coric vs. (2) Gael Monfils

Monfils and Coric will be squaring off for the second time in their careers and for the second time this year when they meet again in Washington, D.C. Their only previous clash came on the indoor hard courts of Rotterdam, where Monfils survived 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 on the way to a runner-up performance. The 17th-ranked Frenchman was on fire at that point in the season, but wins have been few and far between for him dating back to the start of May, mainly due to injury and illness. In fact, Monfils had not won a match since Madrid until he clobbered Yen-Hsun Lu 6-3, 6-2 on Wednesday.

Coric is coming off a huge victory in Croatia’s decisive Davis Cup rubber against the host United States, his second such heroics already in 2016. The world No. 53 got crushed by John Isner in the opening match last Friday, but he rebounded to defeat Jack Sock 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 two days later. Coric maintained momentum by rolling over of Yuichi Sugita 6-4, 6-4 in his Washington, D.C. opener on Wednesday evening. An entertaining baseline battle should eventual see Monfils’ firepower get the best of Coric’s counter-punching.

Pick: Monfils in 3

(1) John Isner vs. (15) Marcos Baghdatis

Isner vs. Baghdatis is already one of the most lopsided matchups on tour in terms of the head-to-head record. The 6’10” American is a flawless 7-0, including 6-0 on hard courts and 1-0 in Washington, D.C. They met at this event during quarterfinal action in 2013, when Isner prevailed 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4. The two veterans just recently faced each other for the first time on a difference surface, with Isner advancing through a Wimbledon first-round affair 7-6(2), 7-6(5), 6-3.

John Isner of the US in action against James Duckworth of Australia during a second round match at the CITI Open tennis tournament at the Rock Creek Park Tennis Center in Washington, DC, USA, 20 July 2016. EPA/ERIK S. LESSER

The United States’ Davis Cup failure also featured a straight-set loss by Isner to Marin Cilic, but this week’s No. 1 seed appeared to erase those demons with a 6-3, 6-4 victory pver James Duckworth on Wednesday. Although Isner’s 2016 campaign has been mostly uninspiring, he at least managed to reach round four at the French Open and the last 32 at the All-England Club (fell to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 19-17 in the fifth set). A three-time Citi Open runner-up, Isner has always thrived during the American hard-court summer. That is just another reason why Isner should once again cruise past Baghdatis–especially considering that the Cypriot got treatment for a lower-back issue during his 6-2, 6-4 second-round defeat of John Millman.

Pick: Isner in 2

(8) Sam Querrey vs. (11) Alexandr Dolgopolov

Querrey and Dolgopolov will be doing battle for sixth time in their careers and for the second time at this tournament. On his way to the 2012 title, Dolgopolov defeated Querrey 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals. It is the American, however, who has a 3-2 advantage in the overall head-to-head series. He has won three straight matches at Dolgopolov’s expense, including two last year; 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in Nottingham and 7-6(5), 6-4 in Tokyo.

Sam Querrey of the US in action against Bjorn Fratangelo of the US during a second round match at the CITI Open tennis tournament at the Rock Creek Park Tennis Center in Washington, DC, USA, 19 July 2016. Querrey defeated Fratangelo. EPA/ERIK S. LESSER

This event, of course, marks Querrey’s first appearance since he took down Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon. The world No. 29 eventually reached his first-ever major quarterfinal, following up his stunner of Djokovic by beating Nicolas Mahut before succumbing to Milos Raonic. Dolgopolov is coming off a disappointing second-round Wimbledon ouster at the hands of Daniel Evans and he just barely scraped past Jordan Thompson 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(4) on Tuesday. Querrey also needed three sets to win his D.C. opener, overcoming countryman Bjorn Fratangelo 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4. The No. 8 seed is playing with far more confidence than his Ukrainian adversary right now and he should treat the American fans to a hard-fought win.

Pick: Querrey in 3