Roger Federer will finally be back in action when he takes the court against Mischa Zverev during second-round action in Stuttgart on Wednesday afternoon. Lucas Pouille is also kicking off his campaign, as he faces wild card Rudolf Molleker.
(1) Roger Federer vs. Mischa Zverev
Federer’s decision to skip the 2017 clay-court swing worked out just about perfectly; he lifted the trophy in Halle and then won Wimbledon. The only thing that did not go as planned was his Stuttgart opener, which he lost to Tommy Haas 2-6, 7-6(8), 6-4. After sitting out the clay season once again, Federer hopes to avoid the same fate at the Mercedes Cup when he goes up against Zverev on Wednesday. The head-to-head series stands at 5-0 in favor of the 36-year-old Swiss, who is 12-0 lifetime in total sets at Zverev’s expense–including three victories on grass (6-0, 6-0 at the 2013 Halle event, 7-6(4), 6-4 at the same tournament last year, and 7-6(3), 6-4, 6-4 a couple of weeks later at Wimbledon).
Zverev earned himself another shot at Federer thanks to a 7-6(5), 6-3 victory over Mikhail Youzhny on Monday. The 54th-ranked German is still just 10-16 this year, but he actually fared decently well on clay–his worst surface. He reached the third round in Monte-Carlo and did the same at the French Open, succumbing to Kevin Anderson in a fourth-set tiebreaker. Zverev’s game works perfectly on grass, so he may be effective enough to take advantage of Federer’s rust by being at least somewhat competitive in each set.
Pick: Federer in 2 losing 8-10 games
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(WC) Rudolf Molleker vs. (2) Lucas Pouille
In all five of his appearances at events worth less than 1000 points so far in 2018, Pouille has either reached the final (one title, two runner-up finishes) or lost his opening match. The 17th-ranked Frenchman has been more in the middle of late, with a second-round exit from Rome (beat Andreas Seppi, lost to Kyle Edmund) and a third-round performance at Roland Garros (fell to Karen Khachanov in straight sets). If he is reverts back to his all-or-nothing ways this week, “all” may be more likely. Pouille is the defending champion in Stuttgart and he is on the opposite side of the draw from Federer as the No. 2 seed.
Up first for Pouille on Wednesday is Molleker, whom he has obviously never faced. The German is just 17 years old, registers at 303rd in the world, and is playing in the main draw of an ATP-level tournament for the second time in his career. He qualified last season on the red clay of Hamburg, ultimately falling to Khachanov 6-4, 6-3. Molleker got a wild card into this event and capitalized on his opportunity by beating Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3 on Monday. He is a prized prospect who will not be taken lightly, so Pouille will likely tested but not necessarily caught off guard by the youngster’s competitiveness.
Pick: Pouille in 3
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Won’t be surprised to see Fed drop a set here, but I think he will be very motivated to get past the first round. Federer in 2 or 3.
would be very surprised if he drops a set
3 months rust at nearly 37 yrs old is hard to predict, imo.
A loss is hard to fathom, though. I wonder when was the last time Fed lost three matches in a row?
Fed gets rusty? True, he did lose to Tommy Haas last year but I think he blows past Mischa in 2. Losing 8 to 10 seems about right.
Pouille in 2.
I agree,Zverev in Germany on grass is a tough prospect for a rusty Fed .Losing a set is quite possible.I just hope he gets through the match.
Fed in 2 maybe gets broken once and a tb
i like Sugita
Federer has a tough draw but grass court tennis is Roger’s domain….. http://www.138mph.com/tennis-roger-federer-dennis-shapovalov-and-milos-raonic-at-the-mercedes-cup-in-stuttgart-and-novak-djokovic-signs-up-for-the-queens-club-event/
Fed gets rusty? True, he did lose to Tommy Haas last year but I think he blows past Mischa in 2. Losing 8 to 10 seems about right.
Pouille in 2.
Go Mischa, go!
Looks like we might have a repeat of last year’s Stuttgart! I know it’s his first match back, but maybe there’s just something about Stuttgart that doesn’t jive with him?
Wow. Fed broke for 4-2 and Zverev broke right back in like 2 seconds. Zverev competing well.
He actually didn’t play that bad in the first set, he just couldn’t convert any of his 6 break points, and Mischa converted his 1. I didn’t see the 3rd set, but I would assume Fed found his rhythm and Mischa was dejected after being broken to lose the second set.
I didn’t see the first set but tuned in for the last set and yeah Fed was playing good, I thought. Zverev I think did get a bit dejected and seemed to give up, imo. He had a chance to break back, I think.
Andway onward ho for Fed. And Pouille I thought played better than he has in a long time. Maybe he likes clay. The tall Germans teenager he played, I had never seen before but he looks like a solid newcomer.
not clay, I mean maybe Pouille is better on grass this year.
need some coffee.
True, Kevin. He didn’t play the break points well in the first set. I thought Fed’s level was good considering the long break, certainly not great. The serve didn’t seem to have a lot of zip on it, but this may be relatively slow grass.
Next up he has an Indian guy who upset Shapo, ranked 180 or something in the world.
Sorry, the Indian (Gunneswaran) first has to play Guido Pella; Fed plays the winner of that match.
Glad to see Roger got through. But very disheartened to see yet another poor loss for my other guy Muller. He literally lost all momentum from the elbow injury that prematurely ended his 2017 season. He was literally notching wins over the likes of Tsonga, Zverev, and Nadal with regularity. First round losses weren’t even an option for him and now they’re normal for him. He won’t even be a seed at Wimbledon 🙁
I forgot Muller had a elbow injury. That is too bad. I expected him to start winning matches and moving up the ranks.
Yeah he had a great year last year and I thought he’d be back to it. Sorry, Benny G.
Yes, I was sorry about Gilles as well. Once again, see age; it will be tough to get back to where he was.