(9) Janko Tipsarevic vs. Juan Monaco
Head-to-head: Tipsarevic leads 3-2
You might think the tattooed Tipsarevic makes his biggest mark on hard courts, but the Serb joined David Ferrer as one of only two men to win 20 matches on both hard and clay courts last season. Tipsarevic beat Gilles Simon and Novak Djokovic back-to-back to reach the 2012 Madrid semifinals a couple of months before the he beat Monaco, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, in the Stuttgart final.
Since starting the season on a skid of five straight opening-round losses, Monaco has won six of his last nine matches—all on clay. He’s also won two of three clay-court meetings with Tipsarevic.
Coming off consecutive clay-court quarterfinals, Tipsarevic should be confident; he is the more aggressive player and bigger server. But Monaco knows his way around the dirt, winning three clay-court titles and scoring a couple of Top 10 wins on clay during the past year. I see him grinding out a close win.
The Pick: Monaco in three sets