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ATP Marseille: Quarterfinal Predictions

By Nate Slaymaker

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ATP Marseille: Quarterfinal Predictions

Even though it is only a 250 level event, the Open 13 in Marseille, France boasts a lot of star power in its quarterfinal rounds. The tournament lost its top seed, Milos Raonic, who went down in the second round to Simone Bolelli, but intriguing match ups still abound. Read on to discover who should move on to the semifinals.

For the quarterfinal order of play, click here.

Roberto Bautista-Agut (ESP) vs. Dominic Thiem (AUT)

What should be the most competitive quarterfinal match is first on court Friday. No. 4 seed Bautista-Agut defeated a tough opponent in Vasek Pospisil to reach this stage of the tournament. Baustisa Agut is a rare Spaniard who prefers the hard courts over clay. He has speed and agility and can quickly turn defense into offense.

the Open 13 in Marseille, France boasts a lot of star power in its quarterfinal rounds

Theim lost to Bautista-Agut this year at the Australian Open in their only career meeting. It was a hotly contested, four set match that Thiem lost in a tiebreaker in the fourth set. The 21-year-old Austrian is currently ranked No.48. He has been deemed by many experts as one of the young stars who could eventually be a top-10 caliber player.

This will be an entertaining match that will likely go the distance. While the potential is evident in Theim’s game, he still hasn’t had a breakthrough match this year. It won’t happen Friday.

Prediction: Baustisa-Agut

Simone Bolelli (ITA) vs. Gael Monfils (FRA)

Bolelli is coming off the huge upset over big serving Canadian Raonic. It was his first ever win over a top 10 player. Ranked No.53 in the world, Bolelli was ranked No.244 as recently at the beginning of 2014. Bolelli took advantage of the second serves of Raonic and showed plenty of fight to gut out the third and final set in a tiebreak. He will need that fight to take on the flair of Monfils and the home crowd that will be backing him.

Monfils has always been known as a player with huge potential. He has the ability to hit amazing shots, but often cannot control his desire for the dramatic in favor of a more straight forward strategy. He loves playing in front of the French crowd and it usually can propel him to great results.

Bolelli actually beat Monfils in their only ever meeting way back in 2007. Expect Monfils to even the score with a comprehensive win.

Prediction: Monfils

Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) vs. Stan Wawrinka (SUI)

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Stakhovsky easily took out No.8 Lukas Rosol in the first round. He has hovered in the 70-100 range of the rankings for many years. He has played a lot of tournaments and used his success on the Challenger Tour to bump his ranking up to No.59. Unfortunately, he runs into the hottest player in tennis.

Stan Wawrinka has had the best year of anyone not named Djokovic. Actually, his only loss was to Djokovic in the semis of the Australian Open. He won the tournaments in Chennai and Rotterdam, beating many top players in the process. His ground game has been outstanding, as usual. What has set him apart in the young season is superb serving.

Wawrinka has to come back down to earth sometime this season, but it won’t be here.

Prediction: Wawrinka

Gilles Simon (FRA) vs. Jeremy Chardy (FRA)

Simon is on a bit of a run. He reached the quarters at Montpellier and the semis at the star studded Rotterdam, knocking out Andy Murray in the process. Simon plays a strong game from the baseline and tries to take control of points as early as possible. He can play great defense when needed.

Before this tournament, Chardy was unable to win back to back matches this year. If he wants to make it three in a row, he will need more than just his strong serve. His attacking game will need to be effective at pushing around the speedy Simon.

Simon has owned Chardy all three times they have played, most recently last week in Rotterdam. The dominance will continue.

Prediction: Simon

Next: Top 10 Servers in Tennis Today

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