On Thursday in Tokyo, Marcos is set to take on Argentine Juan Monaco in the second round of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships.
Marcos had a day off Wednesday, making time for practice and also an autograph session at the South African Airways booth onsite.
After a strong first-round win over Sergiy Stakhovsky on Tuesday, this is another step up for Marcos against the in-form Monaco, who is bidding to qualify for the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals; every point will count for him.
Monaco, the No. 4 seed strolled past qualifier Grigor Dimitrov today, 6-2, 6-1, in his first-round match. Having taken the Kuala Lumpur title last week, Monaco is looking to continue his good form.
Monaco vs. Marcos Head2Head
Monaco takes a 1-0 career lead into the clash, having beaten Marcos three years ago in the Roland Garros first round. Comparing their year-to-date statistics, Monaco is stronger on return of serve, creating 470 break point opportunities throughout the season compared to 313 for Marcos, but the Cypriot’s record on serve is superior, winning 80 per cent of his service games.
The match is scheduled for third on the centre court at Ariake Tennis Forest, with play for the day beginning at 11am local time (+8hrs BST; +6hrs Cyprus). The order of play can be found here.
TennisTV is streaming the match live (territory restrictions apply).
Tune in if you can!
Go Marcos!
