Roger Federer will continue his Stuttgart campaign when he goes up against Guido Pella during quarterfinal action on Friday. Nick Kyrgios and Feliciano Lopez are also on the schedule in what should be a classic grass-court contest.
(1) Roger Federer vs. Guido Pella
Federer and Pella will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers when they clash in the quarterfinals of the Mercedes Cup on Friday. Their only previous encounter also came on grass, with Federer getting the job done 7-6(5), 7-6(3), 6-3 two years ago in the Wimbledon first round. Pella has the misfortune of facing the Swiss again on this surface, but he has already done will to earn a place in the last eight. The 75th-ranked Argentine has improved to a respectable 15-14 at the ATP level in 2018 with Stuttgart victories over John Millman and Prajnesh Gunneswaran.
After losing his Stuttgart opener last summer to Tommy Haas, Federer has already advanced farther this time around. The 36-year-old played his first match since Miami and overcame Mischa Zverev 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 on Wednesday. As the score indicates, Federer shook off rust as the proceedings progressed and should be more confident heading into his second outing on Friday. The world No. 2 is also going up against a far less-accomplished grass-courter than Zverev, so this one should be more straightforward.
Pick: Federer in 2 losing 5-7 games
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(4) Nick Kyrgios vs. (8) Feliciano Lopez
Playing his first singles match since mid-April, Kyrgios recovered from mid-match hiccup to beat an in-form Maximilian Marterer 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 on Thursday. The 23-year-old Australian had been sidelined by a wrist injury, to the extent that he played only doubles in Lyon (won the title) and at the Surbiton Challenger (lost in the first round). Kyrgios is 2-0 so far in Stuttgart, as he preceded his defeat of Marterer by winning an opening-round doubles match with Jackson Withrow 7-5, 7-6(7) over Matthias Bachinger and Yannick Maden.
Up next for the world No. 24 on Friday is a fourth career contest against Lopez, who leads the head-to-head series 2-0 with 2015 victories in Rome and Kuala Lumpur. Kyrgios, though, won their only previous grass-court meeting 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-4 at Wimbledon in 2016. Lopez may be close to wrapping up his career at 36 years old, but he is still a decent 33rd in the rankings and in contention for a seed at the All-England Club. The Spaniard is 13-12 this season following Stuttgart victories at the expense of Viktor Troicki (via second-set retirement) and Gilles Simon (7-6(6), 6-4). With his favorite surface under his feet and an opponent who still appears to be less than 100 percent on the other side of the net, Lopez should have a slight edge in this one.
Pick: Lopez in 3
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WWW?
Kyrgios in 3
Ricky, you say Lopez has a slight edge. Shouldn’t you be picking him, not Kyrgios, in 3?
You beat me to it, Joe.
He still hasn’t changed it. Am I missing something?
Lol he’s got Lopez on daily picks. He’ll fix it.
At this point, after actually seeing that Kyrgios beat Marterer in 3 sets and didn’t lose patience or retire or some kind of drama, I would pick Kyrgios in 3. But when I did my weekly bracket last Sunday, I picked Lopez over Kyrgios. Still, who knows. Very dodgy match to pick.
Federer in 2 or 3 sets. I’m not sure the rust is off, so not sure about games won or sets. I expect Fed will probably win.
Any singles match with Kyrgios is basically 50 50 atm
Lopez in three Fed in two. But look out for Kyrgios at Wimbledon this year. I’ve got a good feeling bout his chances at a run this year.
Go Guido Pella, go!
Go Lukas Rosol, go! 😂 😂
Benny G AT 7:06 AM,
Hmm. Fedfan, I wonder what the player you mentioned has to do with the Stuttgart thread.
The first thing that comes to my mind is that Fed is continuously (no matter what the topic is) setting the tone for his fans.
MailOnline, June 30, 2012: ¤¤ Rosol’s victory over Rafa just made me laugh, says Federer…
“I was laughing because of his performance for 10 minutes after that, ” [said Fed] ¤¤
It’s a joke Augusta chill 😂 😂 You know well I’m not one to root against Rafa even if Fed is my favorite. In fact, I only ever root against Tomic and Rosol!!
From what I’ve read on that, Fed said he was laughing at the “audacity” with which Rosol played as in he found it funny what a stupid clown Rosol was and sort of a comical joke that he won. He and Rafa probably both know that idiot is never gonna do anything else of note in the world of tennis anyways.
Benny G AT 2:36 PM,
Nope, Fed was happy about Ro’s win.
Kyrgios is looking good and we may get to see a Federer v/s Kyrgios semifinal. Lopez however will not be easy for Nick….. http://www.138mph.com/tennis-stefanos-tsitsipas-and-bernard-tomic-advance-at-the-libema-open-in-den-bosch-and-nick-kyrgios-and-roger-federer-edged-closer-to-a-possible-semifinal-meeting-at-the-mercedes-open-in-stuttgart/
Is there not some Fedfans watching this?
Pella is pretty good with his lefty serve. Fed a bit wobbly second set serving — Pella had break chances. But they were whisked away by the grass maestro. And I’d day that was close to Fed maestro of old, the first set. Second set wasn’t perfect.
Have been looking forward to this one: Kyrgios vs Lopez.
Kyrgios has the first break.
Took 3 sets but Kyrgios got it done and he says he ready for Roger. 😀