Ricky’s Tennis Picks For Thursday At The Madrid Masters, Including Federer vs. Monfils And Nadal vs. Tiafoe

Spain’s Rafael Nadal in action during his second round match against Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime at the Mutua Madrid Open tennis tournament, in Madrid, Spain, 08 May 2019. EPA-EFE/KIKO HUESCA

 

 

By Ricky Dimon

 

A huge slate of third-round action headlines the Mutua Madrid Open on Thursday. Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer are all taking the court. Kei Nishikori vs. Stan Wawrinka is also part of the schedule.

 

Ricky previews three of the best matches on Thursday and makes his predictions.

 

(4) Roger Federer vs. (15) Gael Monfils

The jury is still out on Federer’s clay-court game as he heads into the Madrid third round. Following a first-round bye, the Swiss did not have to do much against an injured Richard Gasquet during a 6-2, 6-3 rout. That marked Federer’s first clay-court match since the 2016 Rome Masters as he prepares for his first Roland Garros appearance since 2015.

Up next for Federer is a 14th career encounter with Monfils, who trails the head-to-head series 9-4. Surprisingly, this matchup has been all even dating back to 2010–when Monfils started to reverse what had been a hopeless 0-5 record. They split eight meetings between the fall of 2010 and the spring of 2015, with Federer most recently prevailing in a four-setter at the French Open in 2015. The four-year drought is over thanks to the Swiss’ beatdown of Gasquet combined with Monfils’ wins over Andreas Seppi and Marton Fucsovics. Madrid’s 15th seed is an awesome 18-4 in 2019, but injuries and random mental lapses continue to be issues.

Pick: Federer in 3

 

Frances Tiafoe vs. (2) Rafael Nadal

Nadal and Tifoe will be going head-to-head for the second time overall and for the second time this season. Their only previous showdown came in the Aussie Open quarters, where Nadal rolled 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. Having faced Nadal once before will only benefit Tiafoe, but playing him on clay and in Spain is something the 21-year-old certainly has never done. It did not work out well for Felix Auger-Aliassime, who got clobbered 6-3, 6-3 on Wednesday.

With that success, the Spaniard improved to 18-4 this year as he eyes a sixth Madrid title. Tiafoe has earned a solid 11 ATP-level match victories in 2019 and is on the brink of Roland Garros seeding at No. 37 in the world. He advanced the Estoril QFs last week and so far in Madrid has defeated Nikoloz Basilashvili and Philipp Kohlschreiber in three sets. As if the odds were not already stacked against him heavily enough, this will be a case of somewhat fatigued Tiafoe going up against a well-rested Rafa.

Pick: Nadal in 2

 

(6) Kei Nishikori vs. Stan Wawrinka

Nishikori and Wawrinka will be squaring off for the 11th time in their careers and for the seventh time since the start of 2016. The head-to-head series stands at 6-4 in favor of Wawrinka, who as won two in a row at the expense of his Japanese opponent (6-4, 6-4 at the 2018 Cincinnati Masters and 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 earlier this season in Rotterdam).

At times this year, though, Nishikori has been on fire. He opened with a title in Brisbane and reached the quarters of the Aussie Open (retired against Novak Djokovic). The world No. 7 cooled off in March and April but showed signs of his January self with a 7-5, 7-5 defeat of Hugo Dellien on Wednesday. Wawrinka has advanced this week with wins over Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Guido Pella. In Nishikori’s last six Madrid appearances he has reached at least the QFs five times, including one runner-up finish. The only exception was last year when he had to face none other than Djokovic in the very first round.

Pick: Nishikori in 3

 

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.