The ATP’s Indian Wells tournament moves into the quarterfinals and so do our tennis picks. In the last round, we were mostly productive as we went 2-1. The lone loss was by Stan Wawrinka, who had a disappointing outing against David Goffin. However, we did manage to cash with Gael Monfils, who had a rather easy time with Federico Delbonis as we predicted (won 6-3, 6-4). And we also cashed in with Milos Raonic as he disposed of Tomas Berdych in straight sets, winning 6-4, 7-6. Of course, the biggest story from the last round was Rafael Nadal’s win over Alexander Zverev, which had the Twitter world going crazy.
What are we going to see from a couple of matches which are the products of results that – strictly according to seedings – were upsets? Here are our tennis picks for Thursday.
David Goffin vs. Marin Cilic
Betting Odds: Cilic -159
There is history on the line here in a couple of different ways. Goffin just won his second match against a top-10 player in 27 attempts. Yes, he’s 2-25 in those matches after beating Stan Wawrinka, 7-5, in a final-set tiebreaker. Goffin had to play a lot of good tennis to put himself in position to win, but on the other hand, he led by a set and 4-0 in the second set. He had the match completely in his hands. He served for the match at 5-3 in the second set. He got broken, and he eventually lost the set. Goffin then got a 5-3 lead in the third set. He again served for the match. He again got broken. He was going to be down match point in that final-set tiebreaker at 5-6, but when Wawrinka missed one of the easiest smashes you will ever see, Goffin instead got a match point of his own at 6-5. Goffin won that point, and so despite choking (that’s clearly what he did), Goffin still advanced by a small score. Now, can Goffin beat a top-10-seeded player, Marin Cilic, and put together another big result? It will be hard, because history says it’s hard for Goffin to beat top players.
Here’s the history which is part of Marin Cilic’s story. Cilic is a former U.S. Open champion, so he has that major title already in his pocket. What Cilic doesn’t have, though, is a single Masters 1000 semifinal. There are nine Masters 1000 tournaments each year, and Cilic has been playing them for nearly a decade. Yet, he does not have a single semifinal – not ever. If he wins this match, he would notch his first semifinal result at a Masters tournament, with a chance to then make the final. This is really a huge match for both men. How much more confident the winner will be here – there’s a lot to play for.
Ultimately, Goffin’s choke against Wawrinka – which he somehow escaped – indicates that Cilic is probably going to be the stronger and better player in this match. Had Goffin taken care of business the straight-up way against Wawrinka, we’d have more confidence in predicting an upset. As it stands now, take Cilic with your tennis picks in this one.
Pick: Cilic in straight sets
Gael Monfils vs. Milos Raonic
Betting Odds: Raonic -294
This should be a match with a result similar to the Australian Open quarterfinals in January. You might recall that in Melbourne two months ago, Raonic upset Stan Wawrinka in the fourth round to move into the quarterfinals. Monfils took care of a relatively easy draw through the first four rounds, and then he had to step up in weight class and deal with Raonic’s power in the quarterfinals. It didn’t work out well for the Frenchman, who was comprehensively beaten.
At this tournament, Raonic just defeated Tomas Berdych in the fourth round. He has healed from an injury suffered in the Australian Open semifinals. His form is where he expects it to be. It would be a big upset if Monfils wins here. Go with Raonic for your tennis picks in this spot.
Pick: Raonic in straight sets
Want to give your comments about this article? You can either leave them here or you can join us on the Get More Sports Forum and talk about this article and many more! Brag about your favorite team, argue about an athlete’s performance or tell us about a game you saw. Join a new community of sports fans who live and breathe sports and sports entertainment. It’s free! Join now!
