J. Safra Sarasin Swiss Open
Gstaad, Switzerland
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Men’s Second Round
Thomas Fabbiano over Lorenzo Sonego
Which Thomas Fabbiano is going to show up for this match? Will it be the guy who was on a real roll beating two guys in Eastbourne qualifying and then taking out Ward, Djere, and Simon before losing in three to John Isner in the semis? Is it the guy who stunned sixth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas and Ivo Karlovic at Wimbledon before going down to Fernando Verdasco? Or is it the guy who lost to Stefano Travaglia in the first round of Umag immediately after Wimbledon? I don’t know, but I’m betting that it’s the former. My only issue about this match for Fabbiano is that it’s on clay, and, surprisingly, the Italian’s better results of late have come on grass. Lorenzo Sonego is nothing if not a great dirt baller, so this match should be a war. Sonego also had a great run in Antalya, Turkey where he rolled to the title beating Sousa, Gunneswaran, Mannarino, Carreno Busta and Kecmanovic in succession. But then he imploded at Wimbledon to Marcel Granollers, and he also lost in the first round in each of the three tournaments right before Antalya. With guys both ranked between 52 and 90, anything can happen, but when Fabbiano has his “A” game, he’s the better player.
Fernando Verdasco over Albert Ramos-Vinolas
These two Spaniards have played eight times with Verdasco, four years older than Ramos-Vinolas, having won five of the eight. They’re very close in ability, and they clearly know each others’ games but I like Verdasco simply because he has a better win percentage for 2019. Ramos-Vinolas is at 17-17, while Verdasco is at least winning at a better than 50% clip.
Jiri Vesely over Cedrik-Marcel Stebe
Stebe won his first match of 2019 over French rookie Corentin Moutet, in straight sets. He’s in the main draw because of his protected ranking, a distinction given to pros who experience injuries that preclude them from competing for a year on the tour, thus allowing them to enter tournaments based on credentials and rankings from a year ago. Vesely has been playing all that time, and although he’s not a world-beater, he’s a serviceable pro, who is 8-8 for the year, and has pocketed over $3.8 Million in prize money at the age of 26. I’m not quite sure how far back Stebe has come, but I doubt he’s ready to beat the Czech.
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