Predicted Winners in BOLD
Play it again Jiri
Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP) v [7] Jiri Vesely (CZE) – Jiri has never won a head-to-head match vs. the Spaniard. It is telling that two of the semifinalists in Romania are from Spain despite the unofficial Spanish national title being held this week in Barcelona. Spain has a deep bench of players that is so deep that some feel they had a better shot at ranking points and victories outside of Spain this week. Still, I think Vesely wins and reverses his close loss to Gimeno-Traver in Casablanca 2 weeks ago. I think the match will be close and probably play into a 3rd set.
[5] Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) v [WC/2] Gael Monfils (FRA) – GGL is capable of grinding Gael down if Gael is sloppy. Gael, who is impossible to predict, seems to be playing good tennis since last fall. I think he rides some of his Monte-Carlo momentum into the final w/ a 2 set win over GGL.