Rain has slowed down the courts of Montreal through the first two days of the ATP National Bank Open in Montreal, but we are poised for all 15 singles matches to go on without a hitch on day 3. There are many intriguing day three matches as the top-eight seeds will take the court for the first time this week. As always, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the schedule, including Daniil Medvedev vs Nick Kyrgios, Andrey Rublev vs Dan Evans and Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Yoshihito Nishioka. But who will advance?
ATP Montreal Day 3 Prediction
Diego Schwartzman vs Albert Ramos-Vinolas
Head-to-Head: Schwartzman 5-1 Ramos-Vinolas
After dropping the first set 6-1, Diego Schwartzman fought back to best Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in Round 1 of the National Bank Open. The Argentine, who won just two matches in the months of June and July, is looking to find his form on the hard courts of North America. Albert Ramos-Vinolas picked up his first hard-court win of the season in round one of this tournament. The 34-year-old Spaniard has won just 36.8% of his career hard-court matches, which gives me major pause thinking he will advance in Montreal. I believe Schwartzman will continue his winning history over Ramos-Vinolas during this second-round match.
Prediction: Schwartzman in 2
Casper Ruud vs Alex Molcan
Head-to-Head: Ruud 1-1 Molcan
Casper Ruud and Alex Molcan meet for the third time, looking to break their 1-1 head-to-head record. Ruud bested Molcan in three tight sets earlier this year in Munich. The Norwegian is coming off of a title in Gstaad and currently sits at #4 in the Singles Race to Turin. Heralded as a clay-court-only player earlier in his career, Ruud has broken that mold over the past two seasons. Holding an 8-3 hard-court record this season, including a run to the Miami Masters final, the 23-year-old is a more than capable hard-court player. Although I am a fan of Alex Molcan, who has been playing some wonderful tennis over the past 12 months, he does not have any weapons to hurt Ruud. The consistency of the Norwegian should win out in straight sets.
Prediction: Ruud in 2
Cameron Norrie vs Botic Van De Zandschulp
Head-to-Head: first meeting
Cameron Norrie and Botic Van De Zandschulp are squaring off for the first time as both players sit just one spot off of their career-high ranking. Norrie, who has been playing some blistering tennis this summer, handled the in-form Brandon Nakashima 6-4 6-4 in round one. The Brit is coming off of a finals appearance in Los Cabos and has won nine of his last 11 matches. Van De Zandschulp also had a strong summer, holding an 8-5 record over the past two months. Win or lose, the Dutchman always seems to play close matches. It is worth noting that this will be just his eighth match against a lefty on tour. He holds a 4-3 record against southpaws. I think Van De Zandschulp will battle, but I like the consistency and form of the Brit to win out.
Prediction: Norrie in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
