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The quarter-finals of the ATP 250 Open 13 Marseilles feature some surprising faces and a few expected veterans. The Tennis Review previews and predicts the day’s action.

Roberto Bautista Agut (4) Vs Dominic Thiem

Thiem got a much needed stroke of luck when David Goffin retired from their last sixteen match yesterday with a rib injury. 2015 has been a lackluster year so far for the Austrian who has fallen from 38 in the rankings, after making the U.S Open quarter-finals in September 2014 to 48, and has a 1-3 win record on the ATP Tour in 2015.

One of those losses was to Bautista Agut, a four set defeat in the Australian Open first round, their only career meeting.

Thiem’s luck may have ended though in facing Bautista Agut at this stage in Marseilles. The Spaniard may have fallen from 16 to 14 in the rankings and be 4-4 this season, but he has some credentials indoors, his most noteable achievement being finishing runner-up in Moscow last season.

Thiem meanwhile has never made the last eight of an indoor event, his game best suited to clay.

Prediction: Bautista Agut to win in straight sets.

Simone Bolelli Vs Gael Monfils (WC/7)

Bolelli is the surprise package of the last eight in Marseilles. The Italian had not beaten a top 10 player in 35 tries before he knocked out Milos Raonic yesterday.

Bolelli has beaten Monfils before, all the way back in 2007. But Monfils, ranked 21, has been having a consistent past year and is a seasoned indoor player with 4 indoor hard court titles. The star’s athleticism and shot-making come to life indoors and the home-crowd will also bring out the best of him – three of his indoor hard titles have come in France.

Bolelli should be inspired with his breakthrough against Raonic, and will put up a fight, but it won’t be enough to prevent Monfils making his first semi-final in Marseilles, where he is a surprising career 1-6.

Prediction: Monfils to win in three.

Sergiy Stakhovsky Vs Stan Wawrinka (2)

Stakhovsky is most famous for knocking Federer out of the second round of Wimbledon 2013. The Ukrainian has the aggressive game to take the match to Wawrinka on fast courts as seen in their four set contest at the 2012 U.S Open, a match Wawrinka won.

The Swiss is on something of a roll right now, winning in Rotterdam last week , winning in Chennai at the start of the year, and reaching the Australian Open semi-finals.

Stakhovsky, ranked 58,  is in good form indoors,  coming off an appearance in the Rotterdam quarters, and is 3-2 on indoor hard courts this year. He has also won 2 career titles indoors in 2008 and 2009 so he has predigree on the surface.

Prediction: Wawrinka looks fully revived after his post Monte Carlo slump last year and breezed past Paire in their last sixteen match. Fit, motivated and enjoying the fast indoor conditions, Wawrinka should win this in straights.

Gilles Simon (5) Vs Jeremy Chardy

This could be the match of the day. The two have contrasting styles with Simon being more prone to defensive tactics and Chardy more of an attacking player. This final match of the day between two Frenchman should get the crowd going, too.

Simon leads the head to head 3-0 and won their last meeting in Rotterdam last week 6-4, 6-3.

With both men being in good form – Simon beat Murray for the first time in 13 tries last week and Chardy knocked out defending champion Gulbis in the last sixteen yesterday- this match could go the distance.

Prediction: Simon to win in three sets.

Commentary by Christian Deverille

Many a tennis result gets labelled an upset because of numbers on paper. Often though, these upsets are anything but. Sometimes the lower ranked player is a bad match up for the higher ranked one, or the seeded player is coming back from injury. But Milos Raonic’s 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (3) loss to Simone Bolelli was a true upset in every sense of the word.

Raonic has, arguably, the game’s best serve, and it should bite through the fast indoor courts of Marseille. For much of the match, it did. Raonic hit 21 aces, won 88 % of points behind his first serve, and 62 percent of his second service points.

However, where Raonic has made great strides, yet where he still falters, was the return. Raonic had 8 break points in the match, and could convert just one of them.

But while Raonic could not get the breaks he needed, he had the advantage of his service weapon when the final set went into a tiebreaker, and the odds seemed stacked in his favor in a shoot out in which one slip up on serve is enough to seal your fate . Raonic is also one of the game’s most consistent players, ranked no. 6, while Bolelli, ranked 53, had never scored a top ten win in his career. Recent history favored Raonic, too, as Raonic led Bolelli 2-0 in their head to head, including one win indoors last week in Rotterdam.

That match Bolelli lost on a second set tiebreaker, but this time he had managed to stay with Roanic right down to the wire and his self belief and tenacity paid off as he proved to be the steadier of the two in the breaker, grabbing an early minibreak and then holding serve to 6-3.

Raonic served to stay in the match, but the Canadian hit a forehand into the net to hand Bolelli his first win in 35 tries against a top ten player.

Raonic said after the match, in which he won 96 points to his opponent’s 88, that Bolelli won the points that mattered, a perfect sum up of what made the difference between the two.

Meanwhile, an example of when an upset is hardly a surprise at all took place when France’s 35th ranked Jeremy Chardy beat world No.13 and defending champion Ernests Gulbis 6-3, 6-4. The Latvian, who is vulnerable to upsets at the best of times and is now going through one of his worst, has been injured since the U.S Open 2014 and is 0-4 in 2015.

Commentary by Christian Deverille

Three of tennis’ up and comers – David Goffin, Dominic Thiem and Borna Coric- are in action at the ATP 250 Open 13 event in Marseille on Thursday. The event offers valuable points and prize money for three players in the process of making a name for themselves on the ATP Tour. The Tennis Review previews the day’s second round action.

Dominic Thiem Vs David Goffin (6).

This match up really hit the spot back at the Kitzbuhel Open final last August when Goffin beat Thiem in three sets. Two of tennis’ most attractive games, and very likely ones to feature prominently on the big stages in the future, will come up against each other for the fourth time in a series which Goffin commands 3-0.

Goffin has gone from strength to strength since last Summer and the Tennis Review asked what hew would do next after a string of success at Challenger and ATP 250 level. He answered by making the ATP 500 Basel final and the ATP 250 Chennai semis (lost to eventual champion Wawrinka)and is now a top 20 player.

Thiem, who made his first Grand slam last sixteen appearance at the 2014 U.S Open, is ranked 48, dropping from a high of 36 last September, and his progress has been impaired a little by army service and illness. He is 1-3 on the year, and his one win was over training partner and friend Ernests Gulbis, a result it is hard to read much from.

Prediction: Goffin’s all court game and touch is well suited to indoor conditions and he should win this in two sets.

Gilles Simon (5) Vs Borna Coric (WC).

Coric took advantage of a rusty Rafael Nadal at the Basel indoors late last season and made a name for himself in the process as he broke into the ATP top 100 where he now sits at a career high of 85. The 18 year old has the aggressive baseline skills needed to succeed year round on the ATP tour and is keen to prove himself.

He will have his hands full with Simon, one of the game’s best defenders and a player who has injected some aggression into his game recently. The change has had good effect- the Frenchman beat Andy Murray for the first time in 13 matches at last week’s Rotterdam event.

Coric, meanwhile, has struggled to deliver on the promise he showed late last season. He is 1-4 in 2015 and has won only one set in his four losses.

Coric will have to come up with something special against Simon, who will be feeling confident and has all the experience in the world to make life difficult for a player struggling to establish himself early on in the season.

Prediction: Simon wins in straight sets.

Stan Wawrinka (2) Vs Benoit Paire.

These two old friends will have been seeing more of each other on twitter recently than on the court as Paire has fallen from a career high of 24 in August 2013 to 121.

The last time they did face off proved to be quite spectacular as Wawrinka beat Paire in three tough sets in Toronto, needing a final set tiebreaker to get the win and extend his head to head over Paire to 3-1.

See Paire’s talent on display in the clip below from his Toronto clash with Wawrinka last season.

This season Wawrinka has won two titles, including one last week in Rotterdam, and been to the Australian Open semis, racking up a 13-1 win-loss record. Meanwhile Paire has won a Futures event and a Challenger and won 1 match on the ATP Tour.

Prediction: Wawrinka may bring out the best in the enigmatic Paire once more but should get the match won in two, though playing his close friend might prove to be too emotional and another roller-coaster could be on the cards.

Jeremy Chardy Vs Ernests Gulbis (3).

Gulbis is the defending champion, but has been having a terrible run of form since injuring himself at last year’s U.S Open. Chardy meanwhile, ranked 35, is one of the tour’s most consistent players week in week out, is capable of the big upset (Federer Italian Open ’14; del Potro Australian Open ’13) and has the experience to take advantage of an out of sorts Gulbis.

The Latvian is a confidence player and a streaky player, too, however, and memories of his 2014 Open 13 win, and his 3-1 head to head lead over Chardy will serve to help him go for his shots and hit though the fast courts. But while his heart may be there, his game, rusty as it is, is unlikely to be.

Prediction: The world No. 13 is 0-3 in 2015 and is unlikely to make it 1-3 in his match against the talented and experienced Chardy. The Frenchman to get the upset in three sets.

Commentary by Christian Deverille