Predicted Winners in BOLD
[3] Andy Murray (GBR) vs Jeremy Chardy (FRA) H2H – Chardy’s forehand and serve could cause a few problems, but if Murray struggles he will find a way to Chardy’s backhand and grind out a win. I doubt Murray struggles.
[4] Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs [Q] Marsel Ilhan (TUR) H2H – Rafa’s opponent is match tough, but I think Rafa plays through.
[2] Roger Federer (SUI) vs Pablo Cuevas (URU) H2H – Roger has not had the best clay draws this season. He got Monfils in the 3rd round in Monte Carlo (but only Roger’s 2nd match). Roger then played Nick Kyrgios in his 1st match in Madrid. Now, Roger gets Cuevas in a rematch of the Istanbul final that Federer won 6-3, 7-6. Federer will need to be sharp, but I expect Roger to pull through.
[5] Kei Nishikori (JPN) vs Jiri Vesely (CZE) H2H – This could be closer than it might look on paper, but Kei should win.
[12] Gilles Simon (FRA) vs Dominic Thiem (AUT) H2H – I like both players, but I think Simon’s consistency wins the day against a younger opponent.
[11] Feliciano Lopez (ESP) vs Viktor Troicki (SRB) H2H
[10] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) vs Fabio Fognini (ITA) H2H – A re-match from Madrid. I expect it will be an equally tight match.
[13] Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) vs David Goffin (BEL) – Goffin could win, but he is giving up a lot of size. I think Tsonga imposes his will on this match.
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) vs [Q] Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) H2H – Maybe qualifying will have Dolgo extra motivated, but I think GGL is consistent enough to beat the enigmatic Dolgopolov.
[16] John Isner (USA) vs Leonardo Mayer (ARG) H2H – Big John is big on clay in 2015.
[14] Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) vs [Q] Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) H2H
Tennis Abides: Dan Martin on Tennis and Life 
Good to have you back Dan.
Thank you for posting your picks today! I greatly enjoy your site and seeing what your opinions are on the different matches. You are the first person I go to when trying to decide who to pick, as you seem to have fairly uncanny success. Most other internet touts have around a 60% success rate, while you seem to cruise around 75% all of the time. Hope you are feeling better, and best of luck with the picks. Today I agree with almost all of your predictions, except I feel Trioki will defeat FLo this afternoon. I do believe the match could go either way, and expect it to be a 3 setter, so I find no fault with your decision to take Lopez given he is having his best year on tour.
Other matches that I believe will be close are: Dimitrov V Fognini, Simon V Thiem, Goffin V Tsonga, Garcia-Lopez V Dolgopolov, Federer V Cuevas, and Nishikori V Vesley. You would think that Federer’s recent play would be a larger topic of conversation if Nadal wasn’t in the shape that he is currently in. He is 7-3 in his last 10, which is quite respectable, but not quite up to the lofty standards he has set for himself over the course of his career. Losses to Monfils and Kyrgios show that he is no longer the dominant top athlete he used to be, and he can be pushed around the court by players who hold elite athleticism. Monfils and Kyrgios are similar in terms of athletic capabilities, and most would agree that they are in the top tier of athletes currently playing the game. Roger used to be one of these types as well, but it is clear that at age 33 some of that athletic ability has started to fade, and won’t be coming back. He is still an elite technician and can rely on that to carry him to victory most times he steps on the court, but having technical skills is not something that will help him in the big matches that he used to be so good in. He has aged gracefully so far, and one can only hope that continues. It is not very enjoyable to see one of the best ever, if not the best ever, playing down to the level of average pros.
Wow – what a compliment! On the ATP side, I do have a pretty good success rate, but I think my key is that I do not bet. If I started to think about money, I’d overthink the matches and get them wrong more often. Also, I have no money to bet so it makes it easy to avoid doing son. Thanks again! Dan
Well today I went 6-5 in matches, but Simon went down to an injury so that is not a terrible miss.
I wouldn’t really consider the Simon match a real loss, and the Bellucci, Bautista Agut, and Fognini matches all went against previous track records. You couldn’t expect to have reasonably been able to see such results coming. This is the first year that Fognini has actually played well in Rome in front of the home crowd. He nearly took down Berdych yesterday, and actually scored more total points than Big Berd in the match. We were a couple of big points away from seeing Fabio in the quarterfinals, but Berdych would have none of it, and Berdych keeps his record against opponents outside of the top ten spotless. It is truly amazing what he has been able to do in terms of consistency this season. Sure, he hasn’t been able to take down anyone inside the top ten aside from Nadal at the Aussie open and Raonic via retirement, but the consistency has been more than admirable.
I agree. Once Berdych has been with this coach for 12 months, we may know if his ceiling is still where it seems to be. He is certainly an improved player in 2015.