10SBALLS SHARES RICKY’S PICKS FOR THE CINCINNATI THIRD ROUND, INCLUDING NADAL VS. CORIC AND BERDYCH VS. CILIC

Written by: Staff on 17th August 2016

Western and Southern Open tennis tournament

10SBALLS SHARES RICKY'S PICKS FOR THE CINCINNATI THIRD ROUND, INCLUDING NADAL VS. CORIC AND BERDYCH VS. CILIC

epa05494804 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic hits a return shot to Marcel Granollers of Spain during their second round match of the Western & Southern Open tennis championships at the Linder Family Tennis Center in Mason, near Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, 17 August 2016. EPA/TANNEN MAURY |

By Ricky Dimon

The entire third round at the Western & Southern Open will be played on Thursday, although the number of matches has dwindled from eight to seven because of a withdrawal by Gael Monfils. Thus Dominic Thiem has a free pass into the quarterfinals. As for those who actually have to take the court on Thursday, Tomas Berdych is going up against Marin Cilic and Andy Murray is facing Kevin Anderson.

Ricky previews some of the action and makes his predictions:

(6) Tomas Berdych vs. (12) Marin Cilic

Call this the Goran Ivanisevic Bowl. Cilic recently split from Ivanisevic and the 2001 Wimbledon winner is now in Berdych’s coaching box. In fact, the Cincinnati Masters marks the first event of the Berdych-Ivanisevic pairing. It got off to a fine start on Wednesday, when the sixth seed beat Marcel Granollers 6-3, 7-6(4). Although Berdych slumped through the first half of the year, three of his last four tournaments have been successful–quarterfinals at the French Open, semis at Wimbledon, and another quarterfinal showing to begin his North American summer in Toronto.

Cilic and Berdych will now be meeting for the 11th time in their careers, with the Czech out in front of the head-to-head series 6-4. Cilic, though, has won two of their last three and three of their last five contests. Not unlike his opponent, the 14th-ranked Croat has been mostly mediocre in 2016. He is just 28-17 for the year and was 3-4 in his last seven matches prior to arriving in Cincinnati. But Cilic, who will begin working with Jonas Bjorkman at the upcoming U.S. Open, clobbered Viktor Troicki and Fernando Verdasco to start this week in style.

Pick: Cilic in 2

(2) Andy Murray vs. Kevin Anderson

Kevin Anderson of South Africa follows through on a serve to Alexander Dolgopolov of Ukraine in their first round match of the Western & Southern Open tennis championships at the Linder Family Tennis Center in Mason, near Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, 15 August 2016. EPA/TANNEN MAURY

Murray seemed to be dealing with a shoulder problem and general fatigue in his Cincinnati opener on Wednesday, and who can blame him? After all, the Scot is coming off a gold medal-winning run at the Rio Olympics, where he battled Juan Martin Del Potro for more than four hours on Sunday. But Murray is no stranger to making his physical state seem worse than it really is, so no one should have been shocked to see him make routine 6-3, 6-2 work of Juan Monaco.

Next up for the top seed on Thursday is a eighth career date with Anderson, who trails the head-to-head series 5-2. The South African, however, got the best of their most recent battle–a 7-6(5), 6-3, 6-7(2), 7-6(0) thriller in round four at Flushing Meadows in 2015. This year has been less successful for Anderson, mainly because of injuries. The world No. 24 is slowly making his way back and he recently made a run to the Toronto quarters. Now he is through to the third round in Cincinnati thanks to a retirement from Alexandr Dolgopolov followed by a 6-2, 6-4 defeat of a hobbled Richard Gasquet. Will Anderson be going up against a third consecutive opponent who is less than 100 percent? If so, he may have a chance. But in all likelihood Murray’s gas tank will be in better shape that it was against Monaco and the favorite should extend his winning streak to 20 matches.

Pick: Murray in 2

(7) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Steve Johnson

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France serves to Reilly Opelka of the US during their second round match of the Western & Southern Open tennis championships at the Linder Family Tennis Center in Mason, near Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, 17 August 2016. EPA/TANNEN MAURY

Johnson came within one round of advancing to the medal rounds in Rio de Janeiro, but he suffered a quarterfinal loss in a third-set tiebreakers to Murray. Still, it was an outstanding Olympics for Johnson, as he also captured the bronze medal in doubles with fellow American Jack Sock. Thus continues an impressive surge for the world No. 23, who secured his first career ATP title in Nottingham, advanced to round four at Wimbledon, and reached the semis in Washington, D.C. Johnson is through to the last 16 in Cincinnati following wins over Federico Delbonis (6-4, 7-5) and Julien Benneteau (in a third-set tiebreaker).

Speaking of final-set ‘breakers, that is exactly what had to separate Johnson and Tsonga in their only previous encounter. Right around this time last season, Johnson outlasted the Frenchman 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(4) to book a spot in the Winston-Salem quarters. Tsonga will get another shot at Johnson after edging American wild card Reilly Opelka 7-6(5), 7-6(3) on Wednesday. The seventh seed is 24-12 for the year, but he is a mere 3-3 in six matches dating back to the Wimbledon quarters against Murray. An edge in current form and confidence goes to Johnson, who should also benefit from home-court advantage.

Pick: Johnson in 3