We haven’t even reached the quarterfinals in Marseille and there are already several blockbuster matchups in the draw. The Thursday schedule includes Grigor Dimitrov vs. Sebastian Korda and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs. Emil Ruusuvuori.
Sebastian Korda vs. (2) Grigor Dimitrov
Dimitrov and Korda will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers when they meet again in round two of the Open 13 on Thursday. Their only previous encounter came two years ago in Washington, D.C., where Korda prevailed 4-6, 6-1, 6-2. The 34th-ranked American already has a match under his belt in Montpellier, outlasting Hugo Grenier in a third-set tiebreaker on Tuesday. It has been a decent start to the year for Korda, who advanced to the semifinals in Adelaide and the third round at the Australian Open.
The Aussie Open was without question a missed opportunity for Dimitrov, who had a great draw but lost to Nuno Borges in the third round. Although the 13th-ranked Bulgarian is still in stellar form (he opened the season with a title in Brisbane), this may be a tough situation for him. Conditions in Marseille are brutally slow, so Korda has a big advantage with a win in hand whereas Dimitrov got a first-round bye as the No. 2 seed. The 32-year-old doesn’t particularly like slow courts anyway, so a minor upset for Korda would not come as a big surprise.
Pick: Korda in 3
Emil Ruusuvuori vs. (5) Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
Ruusuvuori is off to a strong start in 2024, with a 7-2 record that includes a runner-up performance in Hong Kong (lost to Andrey Rublev). The first month of the year could have been even better for the world No. 55, because he led Daniil Medvedev two sets to love in round two at Melbourne Park (Medvedev came back to win that match and eventually made it all the way to the final). Ruusuvuori maintained his fine form with an impressive 7-6(2), 6-4 victory over Luca Van Assche on Wednesday.
Up next for the 24-year-old on Thursday is Davidovich Fokina, who leads the head-to-head series 2-1 (2-0 on the main tour). They have faced each other only once since 2020 and that meeting came on clay, which favors Davidovich Fokina (the Spaniard won 6-4, 7-5 last spring in Barcelona). Davidovich Fokina defeated Gregoire Barrere 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Tuesday, but–even though it’s indoors–this is a terrible surface for Barrere. Ruusuvuori will be a much tougher opponent and the Finn has a very good chance to continue his winning ways.
Pick: Ruusuvuori in 3
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