ATP Rotterdam day 4 preview

Yesterday there was a shock loss for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga against last weeks Zagreb Indoors champion Marin Cilic while Andy Murray and Juan Martin Del potro charged on. Today Andy Murray will face young Austrian Dominic Theim. 20 year old Theim is currently at a career high of 113 and produced a good performance at the Australian Open by coming through qualifying and winning one match in the main draw. This will be the first meet between them both but it is expected that Murray should safely come through to reach the quarter-finals.

Prediction – Murray wins 2-0

Juan Martin Del Potro faces qualifier Paul-Henri Mathieu. Mathieu endured a very tense three set match against Ivan Dodig by eventually winning 46 76 64. Del Potro on the other hand faced a tricky first round opener against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The top seed manage to edge the Frenchman out 76 63. Del Potro goes into this match with a 3-0 head to head lead over Mathieu with their most recent encounter being in Basel last year.

Prediction – Del Potro wins 2-0

One one of the more intriguing matches today could be between 6^th seed Tommy Haas and Jerzy Janowicz. Haas is seeded 12 in the world while Janowicz is 20^th. Janowicz began the year struggling with a foot injury but as he recovers more from his the injury. His form is also improving with a encouraging performance at least weeks Open Sud de France where he reached the semi finals. 35 year old Tommy Haas has also had injury issues at the start of the year when he retired in the first round of the Australian Open with a shoulder injury but did make the final at the Zagreb indoors last week. This will the first time the two has meet and there is a extremely high possibility that it will go to a three setter match.

Prediction – Janowicz wins 2-1

Thomas Berdych will play French vetran Nicolas Mahut. Both players enjoyed relatively easy first round matches. Berdych dismissed Andreas Seppi 63 63 and Mahut enjoyed a 75 63 win over lucky loser Daniel Brands. So far Mahut has had a disappointing season with his win loss currently being 2-4 (not counting any wins in this tournament) compared to Berdych's far better 7-2 due to his semi final at the Australian Open. Mahut will be expected to put up a fight in this match as he always does but it is hard to see Berdych losing this one. Berdych has a 4-0 head to head lead over Mahut.

Prediction – Berdych wins 2-0

Gregor Dimitrov faces Latvian hope Ernests Gulbis. Dimitrov had a mixed first round match against Dimitry Tursunov with the Bulgarian finally winning 62 16 64. On the other hand Gulbis enjoyed a straight forward 64 76 win over Denis Istomin. This will be another new meeting in the tournament between these two and it is expected that Dimitrov will move to the next round but it wouldn't come as a shock if he suffers a couple blips.

Prediction – Dimitrov wins 2-1

Richard Gasquet's match against Philip Kohlschreiber could be a tough one for the Frenchman. Gasquet opened up his campaign with a hard three sets win over Thiemo de Bakker with the forth seed having to come back from a set down. Meanwhile Kohlscriber had a far easier 62 75 win over Sergiy Stakhovsky. Gasquet has a 2-1 head to head lead however in their most recent match Kohlscriber won in Montpellier last year. Gasquet is carrying good momentum from reaching the final in France last week and will need to build on this if he is to make the third round. This is expected to be another testing match for Gasquet.

Prediction – Gsquet wins 2-1

Finally home wild card Igor Sijsling faces 33 year old German Michael Berrer. Sijsling created home delight after his surprisingly easy first round 62 62 win over 7^th seed Mikhail Youzhny. On the other hand Berrer had to battle to a three sets win over another dutch wild card Jesse Huta Galung.The two has only played each other once before back in 2012 at the Moscow Indoors. On that occasion Sijsling won 76 63.

Prediction - Sijsling wins 2-0