The ATP’s Nice Open tournament continues with second-round play and so do our tennis picks. Players have dealt with the tricky situation of a first-round match just before the French Open. Some players might have wanted nothing more than to get an extra match or two of practice before the French Open and pocket a few thousand Euros for their trouble. However, now that we’re in the second round, we’re at a point where the winners move to the quarterfinals and can entertain the idea of going all the way and trying to win the tournament.
On Tuesday, we had a rough go of things with our tennis picks as we only went 1-2. There were a couple of surprises by our measure, which left us with a less than profitable day. Our biggest surprise was Benoite Paire, who lost rather easily to Adrian Mannarino. Paire was somewhat competitive in the first set when he lost 6-3, but then he put up a donut in the second one losing 6-0. We expected him to win a lot more than just three games. We also lost with Diego Schwartzmann, who fell to Kevin Anderson in straight sets. He lost the first set in a tiebreak before dropping the second one 6-3. Our lone win on the day came with Joao Sousa, who also gave us a scare. He dropped the first set before taking the last two off of Victor Estrella.
Here are our tennis picks for Wednesday:
Paul-Henri Mathieu vs. Andreas Seppi
There is a clear line of demarcation in quality in this match. Seppi won the first two sets of a fourth-round French Open match against Novak Djokovic a few years ago. He beat Roger Federer at the 2015 Australian Open. He has spent much of his career in the top 30. Mathieu was once a top-30 player, but he hasn’t been able to hang near the top of men’s tennis as much as his Italian opponent. Mathieu’s chances shouldn’t be dismissed outright, but the balance of consideration in this match should be given to Seppi and his veteran know-how. Seppi won’t make deep runs at Grand Slam events or at Masters tournaments, but in a 250-point tournament such as this one, against a player who clearly hasn’t been able to keep pace with the rest of the ATP Tour, he comes across as a fairly solid choice for your tennis picks.
Pick: Seppi in straight sets
Taylor Fritz vs. Gilles Simon
This should be a straightforward match. Fritz entered this tournament only because of a pullout by another player. He is an American on clay, which is a relationship which rarely works well, since American players have struggled for a very long time on this surface. Simon, a Frenchman, should have a very supportive crowd for this match. He moves well and covers a lot of court space on clay. He isn’t a huge hitter, but he plays defense and waits out his opponents, eventually drawing an error from them. Simon shows that in tennis, you don’t necessarily have to hit a lot of winners. You can simply make the other guy miss. That should happen a lot in this match. Take Simon in straight sets and don’t overthink the issue. Take him with your tennis picks.
Pick: Simon in straight sets
Dominic Thiem vs. Leonardo Mayer
This is a matchup in which Thiem should have the upper hand, but Mayer – who used to be a top-25 player – is not a pushover. Mayer is light on his feet and can at times flatten out his shots to put opponents on the defensive. However, Thiem hits a forceful one-handed backhand which generates great power and will overwhelm most of the opponents he faces. Mayer might not get totally blown away by Thiem’s backhand, but he will have a hard time being consistent enough to win the match. Thiem undeniably has the bigger weapons, and that will probably carry the day by the time this match is over. Thiem will win in three tough sets, so take him with your tennis picks.
Pick: Thiem in three sets
