Marseille QF previews and predictions: Pouille vs. Krajinovic, Benneteau vs. Khachanov

Fellow Frenchmen Lucas Pouille and Julien Benneteau will be part of the quarterfinal schedule on Friday in Marseille. Pouille is facing Filip Krajinovic, while Benneteau–still without an ATP title in his career–is going up against Karen Khachanov.

(8) Filip Krajinovic vs. (3) Lucas Pouille

Pouille and Krajinovic will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers when they battle for a spot in the semifinals of the Open 13 on Friday. Feeling quite literally at home on indoor hard courts in France, Pouille captured his fifth career ATP title two weeks ago in Montpellier. Three of the 16th-ranked Frenchman’s titles have come indoors and he also finished runner-up at this same Marseille event last season. Pouille followed up an opening-round bye this week with a 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-4 victory over compatriot Pierre-Hugues Herbert on Wednesday.

Krajinovic is not far from the scene of his best performance as a pro, as he made a run to the final of the Paris Masters this past fall. The 36th-ranked Serb suffered an injury-plagued start to the year but he is back in business at the Open 13 thanks to a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Joao Sousa and a 6-3, 6-3 success against Gilles Simon. With an edge in current form and home-court advantage, Pouille’s strong February swing will likely continue.

Pick: Pouille in 3

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Julien Benneteau vs. (9) Karen Khachanov

Benneteau needs three more wins in Marseille to capture his first career ATP title. By his standards, however, three wins away is not exactly close. After all, the 36-year-old Frenchman has played in finals on 10 previous occasions–winning none of them. He is off to a stellar start in front of the home crowd this week, with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Malek Jaziri followed by a 7-6(2), 7-6(5) upset of No. 5 seed Roberto Bautista Agut. Benneteau, who has been to nine finals at the 250-point level and six on indoor hard courts, is now 4-2 this season with a third-round showing at the Australian Open.

Up next for the world No. 56 on Friday is a first-ever showdown against Khachanov, who has advanced with straight-set defeats of Ruben Bemelmans and Mischa Zverev. The 21-year-old Russian had previously lost only to Juan Martin Del Potro (Auckland and Australian Open) and David Goffin (Montpellier), but he is coming off a disappointing setback against Philipp Kohlschreiber in the Rotterdam first round. With the pressure continuing to mount on Benneteau with each round, Khachanov should be able to dictate play just enough with his forehand to eventually overpower his much older opponent.

Pick: Khachanov in 3

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