Our tennis expert previews selected round of 16 matches coming your way from the Winston and Salem Open.
ATP Tour 2019 | Winston and Salem Open
WAKE Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina (Hard-Outdoor)
Selected Round of 32 Matches | 20 August 2019
Tomas Berdych (9/10)
vs Filip Krajinovic (17/20)
The injury issues that have ravaged Tomas Berdych in recent seasons are almost too numerous to mention. He began the year in quite ominous fashion, reaching the final in Qatar prior to a solid fourth-round run in Melbourne. He then reached a semi-final on the French hardcourts of the Open Sud de France. But since then his appearances have been limited due to recurring injury concerns. His victory in the first round over Andreas Seppi was actually his first match since Wimbledon. So it’s hard to tell how physically prepared the Czech veteran will be. But this isn’t just any player. Berdych has reached the semi-finals of all four Grand Slams, including a run to the 2010 Wimbledon Final. Berdych is a highly accomplished hard-court player, winning the Paris Masters way back in 2005. He also reached the final of this very event in 2012.
Speaking of success in the Paris Masters, Filip Krajinovic is yet another player whose greatest success came on the Paris hardcourts. He struggled to live up to that brilliant 2017 Paris performance during a very disappointing 2018. But this season has seen the hard-hitting Serbian regain some lost momentum. His current win-loss record for the year stands at an impressive 31-12. A third-round run in Melbourne was followed by a quarterfinal showing at the Open Sud de France. He then hinted at past glory with a run to the final 16 of Indian Wells. He then reached another ATP Final on the clay of Hungary. That was followed by a 3rd round finish in Roland Garros and a tight quarterfinal exit to Alex Zvrev at the German Open. So it would seem that the extremely talented Serb is starting to rediscover his form ahead of the year’s final Grand Slam.
The odds suggest that there is little to separate these two men. In reality, it comes down to a choice between recent form and pedigree. Krajinovic has enjoyed a solid season and is an accomplished hard-court player. Berdych has been plagued by injury, but outside of the sports so-called big four, Berdych probably sits comfortably alongside Juan Martin Del Potro as the most consistent player of the last ten years. I’m opting for muscle memory and a Berdych victory. Berdych picked up that victory over Krajinovic during a hard-fought three-set match at this year’s Open Sud de France.
Joao Sousa (7/10)
vs Robin Haase (11/10)
This is a hard one to call, with two journeymen of the men’s game going head to head. Portuguese player Joao Sousa fits the pattern of your continental player fairly well. He feels like his best surface is clay, though some of his best results have come on hard courts: he reached the 2015 Valencia Open Final. And there have been some real signs of encouragement for the 30-year-old this season. After a solid third-round showing in Melbourne, he would go on to a surprising fourth-round appearance at Wimbledon. He then shone in slightly less-than-stellar events, reaching the quarterfinal in Sweden and the semi-finals of the Swiss Open. Those tournaments have a similar profile to this one and it’s easy to see how Sousa could be a dangerous competitor in such tournaments.
Robin Haase is a player with little form to speak of coming into this event. He has been splitting his focus with doubles, recently reaching the prestigious Roger’s Cup final. He beat Kudla in the opening round, though that victory broke a spree of four consecutive losses dating back to Wimbledon. Haase is a player who has certainly shown a proclivity for hard surfaces. He reached the 2017 Roger’s Cup semi-finals while he reached the Vienna Open final in 2013. His two Austrian Open titles came on clay and really run contrary to the general trend of his performances. So in many ways, he is the perfect counterbalance to Sousa: he is a hard-court specialist with surprisingly good results on clay, taking on an arch clay-courter with surprising hard-court form.
The head-to-head record between these two hardly makes things any clearer. They share the spoils at two wins apiece, with Sousa leading the hard-court stats 2-1. It was Haase who won their last meeting, however, which came on the grass courts of Halle last season. I think that Sousa’s far superior recent form makes him an attractive favourite at 7/10.
Written by Damien Kayat for @Hollywoodbets.net
