Wednesday 9 October 2013

Shanghai, Linz Predictions: Federer-Monfils, Raonic-Wawrinka and Stephens-Petkovic

1. Roger Federer v Gael Monfils (Shanghai, R3)
Roger Federer
Thursday's line-up in Shanghai is pretty epic and the top match will see Roger Federer take on Gael Monfils.  Federer has stolen the show on Twitter in the past few days, but he was solid enough on the tennis court in defeating Andreas Seppi, 6-4 6-3 for his 10th consecutive win over the Italian.  Monfils also came through in straight sets against the young Canadian, Vasek Pospisil, 7-5 7-6(4).  Federer leads the head-to-head with Monfils by 6 wins to 1 with Monfils's one triumph coming indoors at Bercy in 2012.  Monfils is a flashy player, who can certainly raise his game to the occasion so don't be surprised if he gets a set here... Federer for the win though.

Prediction - Federer to beat Monfils in 3 sets

2. Milos Raonic v Stanislas Wawrinka (Shanghai, R3)
Andy Murray has pulled out the World Tour Finals at the O2, which means that 3 out of 5 from Roger Federer, Richard Gasquet, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Stanislas Wawrinka and Milos Raonic are likely to fill up the remaining spots.  Two of those contenders, Raonic and Wawrinka will go head-to-head in this fascinating 3rd rounder with the winner boosting their chances of qualifying for a first ever WTF.  Both came through tough three setters today; Raonic lost the middle set to Fernando Verdasco, but rebounded strongly to come home, 7-6(1) 3-6 6-3 for his 11th win in his last 12 matches.  Wawrinka was down 5-2 in a third set tiebreak with Kevin Anderson, but won the next 5 points to edge into the last 16.  Wawrinka beat Raonic in their only previous encounter at Cincy last year, which went the distance.  I really think this one will go 3 sets and I see Milos squeaking by this time...

Prediction - Raonic to beat Wawrinka in 3 tight sets

3. Sloane Stephens v Andrea Petkovic (Linz, R2)
Andrea Petkovic
Black Wednesday was the most dramatic day of the 2013 tennis calendar, but one headline you were likely to have missed was Sloane Stephens's 8-6 third set victory over Andrea Petkovic in a hidden gem of a match.  It was a fabulous contest and I am excited to see the pair play each other again, this time indoors in Linz.  I thought Sloane would face a tough match against Magdalena Rybarikova, but she won rather convincingly losing just 4 games.  Petkovic struggled to close out Austrian home favourite, Yvonne Meusburger and eventually served it out for a straight sets win.  Sloane won that match at Wimbledon, but Petkovic had won their first encounter in Carlsbad back in 2011.  I still cannot see Sloane claiming her first WTA title here despite a solid opening win and am backing Petko to make the quarters.

Prediction - Petkovic to beat Stephens in 2 tight sets

Best of the rest: ATP Shanghai 3rd round predictions
Novak Djokovic to beat Fabio Fognini in 2 tight sets
Florian Mayer to beat David Ferrer in 2 sets
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to beat Kei Nishikori in 2 tight sets
Juan Martin del Potro to beat Tommy Haas in 2 tight sets
Tomas Berdych to beat Nicolas Almagro in 2 sets
Rafael Nadal to beat Carlos Berlocq in 2 sets

Best of the rest: WTA Linz 2nd round predictions
Dominika Cibulkova to beat Katarzyna Piter in 2 sets
Patricia Mayr-Achleitner to beat Maryna Zanevska in 3 sets
Angelique Kerber to beat Alexandra Cadantu in 2 sets

Best of the rest: WTA Osaka 2nd round predictions
Madison Keys to beat Zhang Shuai in 3 sets
Kimiko Date-Krumm to beat Misaki Doi in 3 sets
Zheng Jie to beat Kristina Mladenovic in 2 tight sets

8 comments:

  1. Moo : "Florian Mayer to beat David Ferrer in 2 sets"
    !!!!
    Please elucidade my lantern

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  2. Why not? :-P

    I always throw in one prediction just to see if anyone actually pays attention to what I write... but still I'm going for Mr Mayer. He has done well at this tournament before and Ferrer has been labouring since Wimbledon.

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    1. Moo you are my master ^^ ...my poor little beetle :-P

      Mayer vs Ferrer 6-4 6-3

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  3. I dont know , ferrer is so unpredictable...mayer could take him a set ...

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    1. Yeah he's very unpredictable lately I think its because he's not in shape. Usually he's pretty predictable I mean its usually very rare for him to lose to a player outside of top 10. Just my 2 cents...

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  4. I WATCH YESTERDAY MONICA NICUSESCU FORHEND SLICE YOUSING ALL THE TIME WHO REDICUES SHOTT AND FIRST SET O6 TO RUMUNIAN OPLAYERS

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  5. I think its very interesting how you have Petkovic Stephens in 2 tight sets. I thought this has 3 sets written all over it. Why do I get the feeling your going to be right? In any case we both agree Stephens will lose the 2nd...

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  6. Wow I didn't expect Petkovic to get so frustrated. She basically threw away that 1st set tie breaker wacking the ball like that for 5 straight points. Her Serbian roots definitely took over her German upbringing there!

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