The Geneva Open tennis tournament steams along and reaches the quarterfinals and so do our tennis picks. On Wednesday, we had a rather productive day as we went 2-1 with our tennis picks. Our lone loss on the afternoon was Thomaz Bellucci, who couldn’t get past Federico Delbonis. Bellucci put forth a rather weak effort as he lost the first set 6-3 and then didn’t win a single game the rest of the way. On the bright side, we did cash with David Ferrer who advanced past Denis Istomin partially on luck. Ferrer lost the first set and was trailing in the second before Istomin had to retire due to a hand injury. For our third prediction, we had Marin Cilic to get the job done against Ernests Gulbis and he did exactly that, winning in straight sets.
Looking ahead ot Thursday, anyone who has lost at this point in the tournament will get adequate rest for Roland Garros, but at this point, anyone still left in the tournament has a decent shot at a good-size paycheck and 250 rankings points. Players entered this tournament at their own risk, so now the push for a tour championship gets into high gear. It will be interesting to see how players respond.
Lukas Rosol vs. Andrey Kuznetsov
This is the most obscure matchup of any of the four quarterfinals in Geneva. Rosol is the man everyone knows as the guy who upset Rafael Nadal in the second round of Wimbledon a few years ago. Rosol can clearly hit the ball very hard and put opponents on the defensive. However, Rosol does not play defense very consistently. His effort is uneven. He can easily sulk and go through moods which cloud his focus. He very easily allows himself to get distracted and thrown off course. For this reason, he’s not a very attractive betting opportunity, even though his talent is noticeable. In many ways, this match is probably going to depend on how well Kuznetsov plays. If he comes out strong and makes Rosol doubt himself, he can win. However, Kuznetsov has not made enough of an imprint upon the season to merit significant confidence. This should be a very close match, but Rosol gets the nudge in our tennis picks, but barely.
Pick: Rosol in three sets
Stan Wawrinka vs. Pablo Carreno Busta
This is a matchup of an elite player and a clay-court specialist who is in position to pull the upset. Wawrinka entered this tournament last year and did not make the final. He lost to a player who wasn’t supposed to be good enough to beat him. Will the same thing happen this time around? It’s possible. Carreno Busta beat Gilles Simon and made the final of the Estoril Open in Portugal a few weeks ago. He knows how to move and defend on clay, which will make him the kind of opponent who can frustrate Wawrinka by getting a lot of balls back and forcing Wawrinka to win extended points. The Swiss can win those points, and he’ll probably win his fair share of them, but he will also make some errors at times and give Carreno Busta a few openings. Wawrinka will win, but he will be challenged, probably to the extent that he’ll need three sets to advance. Take him with your tennis picks.
Pick: Wawrinka in three sets
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez vs. David Ferrer
This is a match which should be extremely close. Ferrer has a great reputation, but everyone can see that in his older age, he has lost half a step and is not the same dangerous player who normally makes a Grand Slam quarterfinal. That was the player who existed two years ago, but that player doesn’t exist now. Garcia-Lopez isn’t a top-15 player, but he’s been close enough to the top 30 over the past few seasons that he can threaten Ferrer. This feels like a match that will be 4-4 in the third set. Give Garcia-Lopez the nod for your tennis picks.
Pick: Garcia-Lopez in three sets
