The 19th ranked Ramos-Vinolas will likely have a small advantage in rhythm – 25 of his last 30 matches were held on a clay surface, and he’s come out on top in seven of the last nine, one of which was a come-from-behind win against the top-ranked Andy Murray.
Adding to the Spaniard’s case as a good sleeper pick is his SkiStar Swedish Open title last year (held on clay) and three straight quarterfinals appearances in the tournaments he has played in. Looking at what he’s done lately, we should see him stretch it to four.
All of that will be good for the matchup with Schwartzman, a man he’s seeking some revenge over due to the lopsided loss he received in their previous encounter.
Unlike his opponent, the 34th ranked Schwartzman isn’t performing well as of late. He will enter having lost three of his last five (all held on clay), with all defeats ending in straight sets.
To top all of that, he has career records that are also unappealing for this matchup – his W-L cards on the clay (28-35, 45.5 win percentage) and left handed opponents such as Ramos-Vinolas (11-10, 52.4 win percentage).
However, just to confuse all bettors out there, he can cancel all of that mediocrity out with one stat – he is, as said above, 1-0 versus Ramos-Vinolas. They last met in the second round of the 2015 Austrian Open and he convincingly won, 6-3, 6-4.
He also has one title on the clay, as he won last year’s Men’s Singles competition at the Istanbul Open, which saw him edge the likes of Grigor Dimitrov and Bernard Tomic.
