Day three of the Los Cabos Open sees the always-entertaining Fabio Fognini in action for the first time, as well as Diego Schwartzman vs Ernests Gulbis.
Los Cabos Day 3 Predictions
Diego Schwartzman vs Ernests Gulbis
H2H- First Meeting
Ernests Gulbis recorded his first win since the Geneva Open on Monday, defeating Jason Jung in the first round. Gulbis was undoubtedly the more talented player, but his recent form has been terrible. Sometimes all it takes is one win to get your confidence back to the level you’d like it to be at, and I think that might be the case for the Latvian here. He’s very much a rhythm player, and he did look comfortable in the win over Jung. He’s going to have to up his game even more if he wants to get past the #3 seed Diego Schwartzman, but I think Gulbis does just that.
Prediction: Gulbis in 3
Lucas Pouille vs Thanasi Kokkinakis
H2H- First Meeting
Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis exceeded expectations in his first-round win over qualifier Maxime Janvier. Kokkinakis played well in what was his first tour-level match since the Australian Open in January. It’ll be interesting to see how he holds up physically after Monday’s win. If Kokkinakis takes the court injury free (big if), I think he pulls off the upset over the #4 seed Lucas Pouille.
Prediction: Kokkinakis in 2
Fabio Fognini vs Marcel Granollers
H2H- Granollers leads 4-3
Top seed Fabio Fognini will be making a quick turnaround after playing in Hamburg on clay last week. Fognini reached the quarterfinals before falling to Pablo Carreno Busta. Granollers, on the other hand, played flawlessly in his opening-round win over wildcard Lucas Gomez. Fognini’s on-court attitude is always TBD, but I think he’ll be motivated to start his hardcourt campaign off with a win.
Prediction: Fognini in 3
Radu Albot vs Taro Daniel
H2H- First Meeting
Radu Albot’s successful 2019 season continued as he defeated Janko Tipsarevic in three sets. Albot has continued to play well on the hard courts and seems to be due for big results in the next few weeks. Taro Daniel advanced to the second round, upsetting American Tennys Sandgren 6-2 6-0. The scoreline suggests that Daniel is in form right now, but I’d give an advantage to Albot to advance to the quarterfinals.
Prediction: Albot in 2
Main Photo from Getty
