We take a look at the selected round of 16 matches from the ATP Tour’s Libema Open taking place on Thursday 13 June 2019.
ATP Tour 2019 | ATP World Tour 250 Series
Libema Open | Rosmalen Grass Courts, Rosmalen, Netherlands
Selected Round of 16 Matches – Thursday 13 June 2019
Pierre Hugues Herbert (2/1)
vs David Goffin (5)
David Goffin has kept his ranking alive by virtue of work-rate and the odd decent result. The Belgian has really failed to make much further progress over the past few years, with a game that lacks a killer weapon. He was a finalist here in 2015 and will be hoping to use that experience as a galvanizing tool. Goffin has played in a plethora of events thus far this season, which is typical of the man. He reached the semi-finals in Estoril and the Open 13 event. Otherwise, it has been a disappointing campaign. He is also playing on his least favourite surface: his career 57% win-loss ratio at Wimbledon is his worst at any Slam. Goffin is an arch competitor but is truly a nightmare to back on as a favourite.
Pierre Hugues Herbert has really focused his attention on doubles over the past few years, and to great effect. In Melbourne, he won the Aussie Open Doubles crown to complete the career Grand Slam in doubles. That focus on doubles has unsurprisingly seen his single’s game suffer. But that hasn’t prevented him from having the odd moment of magic. He did reach the semi-finals in Hungary this season. But his finest moment in single’s competition came at the Open Sud de France. He reached the final in his home nation, once again highlighting his abilities. I think that double’s specialists always have a fighting chance on grass. The high volume of volleying done in doubles usually translates well onto the grass.
David Goffin holds the advantage at 2-0, winning their last outing at last year’s Citi Open. But I feel that Goffin is a soft touch seed vulnerable to a player as silky as Herbert. I think that Herbert’s skills are more attuned to the vagaries of grass and we can expect an early exit for Goffin.
Adrian Mannarino (1/1)
vs Fernando Verdasco (4/5)
This will be an intriguing clash of styles. Fernando Verdasco is the prototypical Spanish baseliner. The 35-year-old is a venerated competitor who has shown abilities on all surfaces during his career: he reached the 2013 Wimbledon quarter-final. Despite his growing years, Verdasco has remained an ever-present on tour. Unsurprisingly, his best results this season have come on clay. He reached the quarter-finals of an exceptionally competitive Rome Masters field. Other than that it has been a fairly innocuous season. He reached the round of 32 in Melbourne prior to a devastating five-set defeat to Croatian Marin Cilic. In this battle of the lefties, it will be Verdasco with the obvious advantage in terms of brute power. It will be intriguing to see how he matches the wily Mannarino on this surface.
Frenchman Adrian Mannarino will welcome the advent of the grass-court season. Mannarino is a throwback type of player, not overly blessed with thunderous power from the baseline. He tends to use slice and angles whilst cultivating a strong net game- making him an ideal candidate for grass-court tennis. He has reached two Antalya Open Finals, including last year’s edition. He has also reached the 4th round at Wimbledon on three occasions. In fact, Wimbledon is the only Slam in which he enjoys a positive win-loss ratio: it currently stands at 13-8. So it’s fair to say that Mannarino is a grass-court specialist. He will need all the help he can get from the surface considering the season he has endured thus far. He has faced ten opening-round exits thus far this season. That includes ignominious defeats in lesser Challenger events.
This will be their 4th ever meeting, with Verdasco holding the advantage at 2-1. However, the one victory that Mannarino possesses came on the grass-courts of Antalya: he defeated the Spaniard in the 2017 Antalya quarter-final. I think that Mannarino will come into his own on this surface. The grass-courts are perhaps the most idiosyncratic of all surfaces and can make a fool of form.
Written by Damien Kayat for @Hollywoodbets
