Compared to the first five manic weeks of the season, it is actually nice to have a bit of a breather.  There are three ATP tournaments going on this week, but none have really grabbed my attention.  Next week will see the women head to Doha and there are three more ATP tournaments including Rotterdam.  As soon as the draws are released, I will be immediately switching my attention to both of those tournaments.  In the meantime, here are some predictions for Thursday…

Ivan Dodig

1. Ivo Karlovic v Ivan Dodig (ATP Zagreb, R2)

An all Croatian match-up takes centre stage in Zagreb on Thursday as Ivo Karlovic will play Ivan Dodig.  Karlovic equalled the record number of aces in an ATP best of three set match on Tuesday when he came from a set down to beat off equally huge, Daniel Brands with 44 aces in a 6-7(4) 7-5 7-6(3) victory.  Karlovic was hospitalised with viral meningitis last April and made an impressive and notably underrated return to the tour.  He won the title in Bogota in July and remains a threat on tour with a win this year over Tomas Berdych in Doha.  Dodig had a bye in the first round and surprisingly, has a 3-0 head-to-head lead over Karlovic.  They last played at the Australian Open where Karlovic had set points on his serve in the first set, but was unable to convert and ended up losing the match in straight sets.  Dodig had a remarkably consistent year on both the singles and doubles tour last year, but has yet to get going in 2014.  A win here would give his year a much needed kick start.

Prediction: Dodig to beat Karlovic in 3 sets

ATP Zagreb 2nd Round Predictions:

Mikhail Youzhny to beat Bjorn Phau in 2 sets

Philipp Kohlschreiber to beat Andrey Golubev in 2 sets

Tommy Haas to beat Benny Becker in 3 sets

Lukas Lacko to beat Dudi Sela in 3 sets

Michael Berrer to beat Daniel Evans in 3 sets

ATP Montpellier 2nd Round Predictions:

Pierre-Hugues Herbert to beat Jarkko Nieminen in 3 sets

Gilles Simon to beat Marc Gicquel in 2 sets

Gael Monfils to beat Joao Sousa in 2 tight sets

Richard Gasquet to beat Paul-Henri Mathieu in 2 sets

Jerzy Janowicz to beat Adrian Mannarino in 3 sets

Denis Istomin to beat Dmitry Tursunov in 2 tight sets

Nikolay Davydenko to beat Albano Olivetti in 2 sets