10SBALLS SHARES RICKY’S PICKS FOR THE WASHINGTON, D.C. QUARTERFINALS, INCLUDING GAEL MONFILS VS. SAM QUERREY AND SASHA ZVEREV VS. BENOIT PAIRE

Written by: Staff on 22nd July 2016

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

epa05434088 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 intriguing quarterfinal lineup at the Citi Open on Friday features top two seeds John Isner and Gael Monfils. They will be going up against Americans Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey, respectively. Alexander Zverev and Benoit Paire are also part of the schedule thanks to having survived three-setters on Thursday night.

Ricky previews the action and makes his predictions.

(8) Sam Querrey vs. (2) Gael Monfils

Monfils and Querrey will be going head-to-head for just the second time in their careers and for the first time in nine years when they finally meet again on Friday evening. Their only previous meeting came in 2007 on the clay courts of Poertschach, where Monfils got the job done 6-4, 7-5. The world No. 17 is still going strong at 29 years old, but what once looked like a World Tour Finals season has been slowed by injuries and illness. He had not won a single match since early May at the Madrid Masters when he arrived in Washington, D.C., but he has simply been awesome through two matches. Monfils thrashed Yen-Hsun Lu 6-3, 6-2 in the second round before cruising past Borna Coric 6-2, 6-3 in 54 minutes on Thursday.

Querrey, of course, is coming off an improbable performance at Wimbledon; he stunned Novak Djokovic in the third round and eventually surged into his first major quarterfinal. The American is also through to the quarters this week thanks to wins over Bjorn Fratangelo (in three sets) and Alexandr Dolgopolov (7-6(5), 6-3). With the way Monfils is serving right now, however, he can stand up to Querrey in that department and he will obviously have a significant advantage from the baseline. The second-seeded Frenchman has won an incredible 44 of 47 first-serve points so far this week and Querrey’s return will be no match for those kinds of statistics.

Pick: Monfils in 2

(7) Alexander Zverev vs. (4) Benoit Paire

How Paire managed to win his third-round showdown against Gilles Muller late on Thursday will go down as the biggest mystery of the week and perhaps one of the biggest mysteries of the entire year. The fourth-seeded Frenchman trailed 0-40 while serving at 5-5 in the third set and at 30-40 appeared to lose the point–and the game–three different ways. But Paire somehow retrieved a Muller drop-shot, also tracked down a perfect lob by the Luxembourgian, and then won the point when a backhand that appeared to going well long was left by Muller only to land spot on the baseline. Paire eventually held serve and recovered from a 4-2 deficit in the final-set tiebreaker by winning the last five points of the match, two thanks to bounces off the net cord.

Seemingly inspired after being named to France’s Olympic team in place of Richard Gasquet, the world No. 24 preceded his 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(4) win over Muller with a 6-0, 7-5 defeat of qualifier Jared Donaldson. Zverev, also a quarterfinalist in Washington, D.C. last season, has advanced by knocking out Taylor Fritz (6-4, 6-2) and Malek Jaziri (6-2, 5-7, 6-2). The 19-year-old German is an awesome 31-17 for his 2016 campaign, which includes runner-up performances in Nice and Halle. Although Paire appears to be motivated at this event, he will not be able to play with fire against an in-form and super-talented Zverev like he did against Muller.

Pick: Zverev in 2

Germany’s Alexander Zverev in action against Croatia’s Marin Cilic during their quarter final match at the Citi Open tennis tournament in Washington, DC, USA, 07 August 2015. EPA/SHAWN THEW

(1) John Isner vs. (5) Steve Johnson

Familiar foes Isner and Johnson will be facing each other for the sixth time in their careers and for the third consecutive year in Washington, D.C. It is only fitting that these two Americans and former NCAA standouts collide again here because their two previous showdowns certainly did not disappoint. Johnson pulled out a 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-6(6) victory in 2014 before another third-set tiebreaker saw Isner exact revenge via a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(9) semifinal decision. This week’s No. 1 seed leads the overall head-to-head series 4-1, having also prevailed at the 2014 Shanghai Masters and twice in 2015 prior to the Citi Open (Monte-Carlo and Nice).

John Isner of the US in action against Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus during a third round match at the CITI Open tennis tournament at the Rock Creek Park Tennis Center in Washington, DC USA, 21 July 2016. EPA/ERIK S. LESSER

Although Isner is no stranger to thrillers against Johnson and against just about anyone in Washington, D.C., he has begun this week with no drama. The world No. 16 rolled over James Duckworth 6-3, 6-4 before improving to 8-0 lifetime at Marcos Baghdatis’ expense thanks to a 7-6(3), 6-2 victory. Johnson is also a perfect 4-0 in sets through two matches following defeats of Adrian Mannarino and Ryan Harrison. Another impressive run at this tournament could have been forecasted by Johnson’s recent play. The former University of Southern California star secured his first ATP title on the grass courts of Nottingham and then reached the last 16 at Wimbledon. Johnson would likely have an edge if this one goes to another final-set ‘breaker, but Isner’s return game has been surprisingly effective this week and he may avoid the tiebreaker fate that has plagued him throughout this year.

Pick: Isner in 3