ATP Monte-Carlo 2nd Round Predictions: Nadal-Matosevic, Gulbis-Monaco

1st round action in Monte-Carlo concluded with wins for Ernests Gulbis, Nicolas Almagro and Stanislas Wawrinka.  In the second round matches that took place on Tuesday, Janko Tipsarevic went down to Grigor Dimitrov, 7-6(3) 6-1 having blown set points at 5-4 in the opening set.  Juan Martin del Potro escaped the same fate as he recovered from a 6-1 4-3 deficit to come back against Alexandr Dolgopolov.  Del Potro was well below his best, but was given a way back in by Dolgo.  Let's take a look at tomorrow's match-ups.

Marinko Matosevic

1. Rafael Nadal v Marinko Matosevic

Rafael Nadal opens up the defence of his Monte-Carlo title with a second round match-up against Marinko Matosevic.  The Aussie defeated a tumbling, Fernando Verdasco, 7-5 6-3; Verdasco had built up a convincing lead and tried to serve out the first set, but Matosevic recovered to take the match in straight sets.  Matosevic made a a sluggish start to the year, but has started to improve his form with a semi-final appearance in Memphis and 3rd round in Indian Wells.  Matosevic is unlikely to stand much of a chance against Nadal, but it will give us an early gauge of the Spaniard's form for the week ahead.

Prediction - Nadal to beat Matosevic in 2 sets

2. Ernests Gulbis v Juan Monaco

Two players with contrasting 2013's take on each other in what should be an entertaining second round match between Ernests Gulbis and Juan Monaco.  Gulbis put in a mentally astute performance to defeat a weary John Isner, 4-6 6-2 6-3. Next up for Gulbis is Monaco, who is slowly turning his year around following his first wins of 2013 in Houston where he made the semi-finals.  Monaco defeated Martin Klizan today in straight sets, 6-4 6-0.  Gulbis has had a great season so far, boosted by a 13 match winning streak that saw him come through qualifying to win Delray Beach and then do the same in Miami, only to fall to eventual champion, Rafael Nadal in the 4th round.  Both players like the clay, but having won all those matches this year, I think greater experience in tight matches will pull Gulbis over the finishing line.

Prediction - Gulbis to beat Monaco in 3 tough sets

3. Marin Cilic v Kevin Anderson

Kevin Anderson

One of the tightest second round matches to call is the second match on court two between Kevin Anderson and Marin Cilic.  Anderson overcame Jerzy Janowicz in a very tight two setter, 7-5 7-6(9).  Cilic was forced into a decider by Horacio Zeballos, but eventually regrouped from losing the middle set to progress with a 6-2 6-7(6) 6-2 victory.  Cilic has won both previous encounters with Anderson and the most recent of those was on the hard courts of Beijing in 2011 where Cilic won in three sets.  Anderson has been the better player this year, compiling a super consistent year with 18 match wins.  This promises to be a really tight match, but I give the edge to Cilic...

Prediction - Cilic to beat Anderson in 3 tough sets

4. Novak Djokovic v Mikhail Youzhny

It now appears that Novak Djokovic has given the green light to Monte-Carlo and he will take to the court on Wednesday to contest his first match of the tournament against Mikhail Youzhny.  The Russian player defeated Daniel Gimeno-Traver in straight sets, 6-4 6-0 in his first round match.  The majority of previous clashes between Djokovic and Youzhny have gone the distance and the Russian player has notched up three wins over Djokovic, the most recent of those in Rotterdam back in 2011.  Youzhny should go into the match with a bit more hope than usual following Djokovic's injury concerns.  I fancy a nervy start from Djokovic, but he has the mental toughness to prevent an early exit...

Prediction - Djokovic to beat Youzhny in 2 sets (1 tight, 1 easy)

Best of the rest: 2nd round predictions

Tomas Berdych to beat Marcel Granollers in 2 sets

Nicolas Almagro to beat Jurgen Melzer in 3 sets

Stan Wawrinka to beat Albert Montanes in 2 sets

Roberto Bautista-Agut to beat Florian Mayer in 2 sets

Jarkko Nieminen to beat Milos Raonic in 3 sets

Fabio Fognini to beat Albert Ramos in 3 sets

Andy Murray to beat Edouard Roger-Vasselin in 2 sets

You can see how I am doing with my original predictons for Monte-Carlo HERE

ATP Monte-Carlo 2nd Round Predictions: Del Potro-Dolgopolov, Tsonga-Davydenko

Today's action saw two seeds falls at the first hurdle; Gilles Simon rather surprisingly fell to to Roberto Bautista-Agut who continued his great year to date with a 6-3 7-6(6) upset win.  Andreas Seppi also lost, to Fabio Fognini having won the opening set, 3-6 6-4 6-4.  Marin Cilic and Milos Raonic were two seeds that did make it into the second round, which kicks off tomorrow along with the remainder of the first round matches...

1. Juan Martin del Potro v Alexandr Dolgopolov

Juan Martin del Potro

The world number 7, Juan Martin del Potro has taken a late wildcard into Monte-Carlo, a tournament he has yet to post a main draw win in and not played since 2009.  His first match will be against the engima that is, Alexandr Dolgopolov, who defeated Bernard Tomic in straight sets, 6-2 6-4, in his first match on Sunday.  The Ukranian has had a disappointing season up till now with just two quarter-final appearances in Brisbane and Memphis to his name.  Del Potro is likely to be vulnerable in this match, which will be his first on the clay in 2013.  In Del Potro's favour will be a 3-0 head-to-head record over Dolgopolov and I fancy him to make it 4-0, overcoming a sticky opening set against Dolgo.

Prediction - Del Potro to beat Dolgopolov in 2 sets (1 tight, 1 easy)

2. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga v Nikolay Davydenko

French hopes in Monte-Carlo will lie with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who opens his account against Nikolay Davydenko tomorrow.  Davydenko won his first round match against the qualifier Daniel Brands, 6-3 6-4 and will face Tsonga for the second time this year.  Tsonga prevailed when they played in Marseille in a tight two setter, 7-6(1) 6-3.  Davydenko has beaten Tsonga twice before in 2007 and 2008 and this will be their first clay court encounter, which is Tsonga's weakest surface.  I still fancy Tsonga to win this one...

Prediction - Tsonga to beat Davydenko in 2 very tight sets

3. Janko Tipsarevic v Grigor Dimitrov

Janko Tipsarevic faces a testing opener against the improving, Grigor Dimitrov in the opening match on Court Central for Tuesday.  Dimitrov eased past Xavier Malisse in his opener on Sunday, 6-3 6-2.  Dimitrov had both Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray on the ropes in third round matches at Indian Wells and Miami respectively; however when serving for the first set in both matches, he succumbed under the pressure.  Tipsarevic holds a 3-0 head-to-head lead over Dimitrov although like the last match-up between Tsonga and Davydenko, this will be their first match on the clay.  This will be a close one, but I hate to say that I think Tipsy to edge it...

Prediction - Tipsarevic to beat Dimitrov in 3 sets 

Best of the rest: 2nd round predictions

Richard Gasquet to beat Benoit Paire in 2 sets

Philipp Kohlschreiber to beat Pablo Andujar in 3 sets 

WTA Katowice: Roberta Vinci beats Petra Kvitova in the final, 7-6(2) 6-1

Roberta Vinci won the WTA Katowice title with another stunning performance in the final, defeating Petra Kvitova, 7-6(2) 6-1.  The first set was high quality stuff for a surprisingly full crowd in Katowice, but it was Vinci who edged a very tight set, raising her level in the tiebreak.  Kvitova went wandering mentally in the second set, but she could not break down the rock solid defences of Vinci, who had lost just two games in her quarter-final and semi-final matches.  Vinci will now move up to world number 12 in the rankings and her game looks in a good place to have a solid season on the clay.  

The women now take a week off before Fed Cup duties next weekend.  The majority of the top ten will then return next week for my favourite WTA event of the year (excluding the British events!) in Stuttgart.  I will be following the ATP tournament in Monte-Carlo this week so stay tuned :-)

Roberta Vinci victorious in Katowice