Finals previews and predictions: Sock vs. Sousa, Muller vs. Evans

Jack Sock has made a return trip to the Auckland final and he will hope to go one step farther this time when he faces Joao Sousa for the title on Saturday. In Sydney, meanwhile, it all comes down to Gilles Muller and Dan Evans.

ASB Classic: Joao Sousa vs. (4) Jack Sock

Sock and Sousa will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers when they battle for the Auckland title on Saturday. Their only previous encounter came last spring on the red clay of Madrid, where Sousa got the job done 6-1, 6-7(3), 6-2. The 44th-ranked Portuguese is now through to his eighth career final and first on an outdoor hard court. He has advanced this week with victories over Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Brydan Klein, Robin Haase, and Marcos Baghdatis all in straight sets.

Enduring a more complicated trek to the championship match, Sock scraped past Ryan Harrison and Jeremy Chardy in three before beating Steve Johnson 6-4, 6-3 in the semis. This is the 23rd-ranked American’s second consecutive appearance in the Auckland final, giving him a chance to make amends for a 2016 retirement against Roberto Bautista Agut. Sock has also maintained momentum from last week’s Hopman Cup, where he went 3-1 in singles and led Team USA to the final. This is a match that is going to be on Sock’s racket, and–based on his current form–that can only be considered a good thing.

Pick: Sock in 3

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Apia International: (6) Gilles Muller vs. Dan Evans

It has not quite reached Julien Benneteau proportions, but Muller is 0-5 lifetime in ATP finals heading into Saturday’s title match in Sydney. In two of his finals he led by a set and was a tiebreaker away from winning in straights (against Andy Roddick at the 2012 Atlanta event and against Ivo Karlovic last summer in Newport). Muller ended up losing to Karlovic 14-12 in a third-set ‘breaker. The 33-year-old Luxembourgian has given himself another–and perhaps his best–chance following wins this week over Alexandr Dolgopolov, Matthew Barton, Pablo Cuevas, and two-time defending champion Viktor Troicki.

Up next for the sixth seed is a first-ever meeting with Evans. The 67th-ranked Brit punched a ticket to his maiden ATP final with defeats of Thiago Monteiro, Marcel Granollers, Dominic Thiem, and Andrey Kuznetsov. Evans needed three sets on all four occasions and twice battled back from a set down–against Granollers and Thiem. This is Muller’s match to win or lose, but he may have to do it in straights before the demons of his past finals creep into his mind.

Pick: Muller in 2

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