We take a look at the selected round of 16 fixtures from the ATP Tour’s Mutua Geneva Open taking place in Switzerland on the 21st and 22nd of May 2019.
2019 ATP Tour | ATP 250 Series | Geneva Open
Selected Round of 16 Matches | 21-22 May 2019
Alex Zverev (1/4)
vs Ernests Gulbis (3/1)
Alex Zverev will desperately be looking to gain some clay-court form ahead of next week’s French Open in Paris. The German superstar has certainly been the biggest disappointment on the clay-court circuit this year. He hasn’t been able to get beyond the quarter-final stage on any clay-court event, with some slightly embarrassing losses to the likes of Matteo Berrettini along the way. He has actually only reached beyond the quarter-final stage once this year en route to the Mexico final. So Zverev will be desperate to get some semblance of confidence this week. After winning last year’s season-ending ATP World Tour finals he looked primed to be the logical successor to the so-called ‘Big Three’. His demise has been hard to pinpoint. He enjoyed an excellent clay-court campaign last year, reaching the final in Rome and claiming the Madrid title. Perhaps he can draw some added confidence from his brother’s final appearance here in 2017.
So you think that Zverev has been in poor form? Latvian Journeyman Ernests Gulbis entered this event in the mire of some of the worst form imaginable. His straight-sets victory over Nishioka broke a streak of ten consecutive defeats! That included a first-round loss on the Challenger circuit. So I guess it’s fairly safe to say that Gulbis is not in the greatest nick either. But the Latvian actually has a clay-court pedigree that belies his style. His flat groundstrokes would seem to make him ideally suited to hardcourts. But that ability to hit through the court has given him some notable clay-court success. He reached the 2008 French Open quarter-finals and bettered that in 2014. That run to the semi-finals of Roland Garros exemplified his ability to cause a major shock on this surface: he also reached the semi-finals of the 2010 Rome Masters 1000 event.
This will be their second ever meeting, with Gulbis actually leading the head-to-head 1-0. And that victory came last season at Wimbledon. Gulbis won a marathon five-set encounter and will go into this match with absolutely no fear. Clearly, Zverev is the favourite and should waltz serenely to victory. But his recent demise in form may present some value in an improbable Gulbis shock. Perhaps a three-set victory for Zverv at 3/1 is the best option, however.
Cristian Garin (3/10)
vs Taro Daniel (49/20)
vs Taro Daniel (49/20)
The 22-year-old Chilean has emerged as one of the most exciting clay-court prospects in world tennis. He actually beat Alex Zverev to claim the 2013 French Open Junior’s title. Just one look at his ATP Challenger and Futures record tells you everything you need to know. He has been in an accumulative 17 finals – 16 of which have been on clay. His promise really came to the surface when he lost the Sao Paulo Open final earlier this year. He went on to claim the US Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston. He then reached the final 16 in Barcelona, beating Denis Shapovalov in the process. But it was his exploits at the Bavarian International which really stood out. He won the event last time out, beating the likes of Alex Zverev and Diego Schwartzmann in the process. Along with Fabio Fognini, he has emerged as a true breakout clay-court star this year.
Japanese-American Taro Daniel beat Zapatis Miralles in the opening round and has actually developed a fairly solid profile over the past eight months or so. He claimed his first ATP title last season by winning the Istanbul Open on clay. He then followed that up with a series of solid, year-end performances. There were quarter-final appearances in Austria and the Swiss Open. But it was a semi-final run at the Winston-Salem Open that really underlined his growing potential. This year has been slightly tougher, with a quarterfinal at the Grand Prix Hassan II his best result. But Daniel should feel quietly confident going into this smaller clay-court event. He has won three challenger events on clay to go with that Istanbul title.
These two share the spoils at one win apiece in their head-to-head encounters. Both of those matches came on the Challenger Tour, with Garin winning their match last year. There is very little to suggest that Daniel will be able to compete with the red hot Garin. Garin to win in straight sets at 8/10 possibly represents the best value here.
Written by Damien Kayat for Hollywoodbets.
