Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the ATP Winston-Salem match.
In the round of 16 in North Carolina, two seeded players meet: Miomir Kecmanović (No.13) and Luciano Darderi (No.3), both of whom had to put in plenty of effort to get here.
Miomir Kecmanović
Kecmanović defeated Aleksandar Kovacevic in the second round in straight sets, but the match still went over 22.5 games (6:4, 7:6). One of the reasons was the lack of break-point opportunities — just three apiece. All three successful breaks came in the opening set. At the previous event in Cincinnati, the Serb also lost by the same score in his opening match. Creating a real edge has clearly been a struggle for him.
Luciano Darderi
In his second-round match with Mackenzie McDonald, Darderi looked well placed to finish the job quickly after recovering from 0:3 down to lead 4:3. But then neither player managed a break across the next 21 games. Two tie-breaks followed, which they split. And that was against an opponent ranked outside the top 100. Only in the decisive 10th game of the third set did Darderi finally show his class, breaking to love to seal victory. In total, he had to grind through 36 games.
Miomir Kecmanović vs Luciano Darderi Prediction
Both men have already expended plenty of energy, and with only 11 places separating them in the rankings, there is unlikely to be a quick finish. Their head-to-head is also level at 1-1. A long, grinding contest looks inevitable, even if it ends in straight sets.
