Tennis Wednesday - Abrams picks ATP matches at Antalya, Eastbourne – Paire, Troicki, Tomic, Krawietz, Humbert, Pella, Hurkacz and more
Turkish Airlines Open Antalya
Antalya, Turkey
Men’s Singles
Benoit Paire over Victor Troicki
Paire’s game takes to grass well, as long as Paire works hard out there. Troicki is not back to where he was 10 years ago.
Peter Gojowczyk over Bernie Tomic
Gojo tries, cares and will win. Tomic is yesterday’s news, although he has won his first round match here that I thought he’d lose.
Pablo Carreno Busta over Kevin Krawietz
Carreno Busta will beat the qualifier Krawietz even though he’s a clay-courter. His game may not translate particularly well on to the grass, but it’ll take a better player than Krawietz to beat him on it.
Ugo Humbert over Miomir Kecmanovic
Both of these two guys beat clay-courters in the first round. I like Humbert only because his lefty serve should present problems for Kecmanovic. But this will be close.
Men’s Doubles
Leander Paes/Benoit Paire over Roman Jebavy/Philipp Oswald
Paes and Paire proved in their first round win that they mesh together well. Paes has a pair of the best hands out there, even though he’s 46 years-old. I like them to upset the fourth- seeded team of Jebavy/Oswald.
Robert Lindstedt/Tim Puetz over Jonathan Erlich/Arte Sitak
Lindstedt and Puetz are a real team with real moves. Erlich and Sitak won’t last long in this one.
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Nature Valley International
Eastbourne, Great Britain
Men’s Singles
Taylor Fritz over Guido Pella
This match would go Pella’s way if they were playing on clay, but on grass, it’s Fritz’ match to lose. The American should dominate on the green stuff.
Kyle Edmund over Cam Norrie
In a match between the two highest-ranked Brits I like Edmund to serve and volley all over Norrie, because he does it better.
Fernando Verdasco over Juan Ignacio Londero
Verdasco has the game to take out lucky loser Londero on the grass. His lefty serve and his volleying ability should put Londero on the sidelines pretty quickly.
Pierre-Hugues Herbert over Dan Evans
Herbert got lucky that Feliciano Lopez pulled out after winning both the singles and doubles crowns last week. He’ll take out the Brit, Dan Evans, who surprised me and beat Radu Albot on the grass on Monday.
Stevie Johnson over Hubert Hurkacz
American Stevie Johnson sure feels comfortable on the grass, and it’s nice to see him shake hands after winning considering how many times he lost leading up to the grass court season. He should have enough gumption to take out the Pole, Hubert Hurkacz, but not before it becomes a battle to the death.
Sam Querrey over Dusan Lajovic
Like Johnson, Sam Querrey must be awfully happy to be on the grass, which is pretty friendly to his game. Dusan Lajovic would run all over the American if they played on slow stuff, but on the grass, Lajovic won’t be able to catch up to Querrey’s serves and forehands.
Gilles Simon over Nicolas Jarry
Simon is playing some top notch tennis right now, and looks as formidable as he can get. I’d love to see Jarry take a win home to Chile, but I don’t think it’s gonna happen while Simon is at his best.