F. Verdasco - P. Kotov

Verdasco, who is in great shape, got Berankis former opponent, Russian Kotov, in the last stage of qualification. The obvious favorite is Spanish and showing good quality tennis this season, it’s clear more of it playing well in challenger tournaments or against second-hundred players, so here’s he plays with a 172 ATP racket. This will be the first clash of these tennis players and although Kotov may be dangerous here I think he will be oppressed by Verdasco. Well, the main downside is Verdasco's 2nd racket in qualifier, so if he loses, he can pass, but I don't think he would do so even though he is now the player with the highest rank in the qualifier. Verdasco is really confident this season and is playing on his favorite clay, so here's my game advantage, by the way, Kotov will be the second only match on the clay after winning the Brazilian Matos 614 ranking in the first qualifying round of this tournament.

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