Fellow seeds Richard Gasquet and Fabio Fognini will battle for the Bastad title on Sunday. The only unseeded player remaining at the two clay-court tournaments is Guido Pella, who will face Marco Cecchinato in the Umag final.
SkiStar Swedish Open: (4) Richard Gasquet vs. (3) Fabio Fognini
Fognini and Gasquet will be squaring off for just the fourth time in their careers and for the first time in more than five years when they clash in the Bastad final on Sunday. Gasquet is leading the head-to-head series 2-1, although Fognini won their only previous clay-court encounter 7-6(0), 6-2 at the 2013 Monte-Carlo Masters. The Frenchman had previous prevailed at hard-court events in 2007 (6-0, 6-1 in Mumbai) and 2012 (6-2, 6-1 in Sydney).
Both men are still going relatively strong more than a year into their 30s. Fognini is a stellar 30-14 for his 2018 campaign with a title on the red clay of Sao Paulo. The 15th-ranked Italian has maintained his fine form this week with defeats of Mikael Ymer, Federico Delbonis, and Fernando Verdasco. Gasquet punched his ticket to the title match bye beating Gerald Melzer, Casper Ruud, and Henri Laaksonen. The world No. 29 just recently triumphed on a much different surface (grass) in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, making him an even 15-15 lifetime in ATP finals. Fognini, who is coming off a much tougher semifinal against Verdasco, is just 6-9 for his career in championship matches.
Pick: Gasquet in 3
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Croatia Open: Guido Pella vs. Marco Cecchinato
Is the third time the charm for Pella? The 72nd-ranked Argentine has appeared in two previous ATP finals, falling at the last hurdle two years ago in Rio de Janeiro and this past season in Munich (both on clay). He is back on the same stage on Sunday in Umag thanks to victories over Taro Daniel, Aljaz Bedene, Dusan Lajovic, and Robin Haase. Pella, a third-round performer at Wimbledon following an incredible upset of Marin Cilic, is a solid 21-16 at the ATP level in 2018.
Up next for the 28-year-old is third career contests against Cecchinato. Their only non-retirement result came last year at a clay-court Challenger tournament in Heilbronn, where Pella prevailed 6-2, 6-2. Cecchinato, of course, is a much different player now. The world No. 25 recently captured his first career ATP title during the French Open tuneup in Bucharest and that set the stage for a shocking semifinal run at Roland Garros. Showing no sings of slowing down, Cecchinato reached a grass-court semifinal in Eastbourne and so far in Umag he has defeated Jiri Vesely, Laslo Djere, and Marco Trungelliti. A supremely confident Italian should be able to keep things rolling at the expense of an opponent who could be feeling the pressure of a first-ever title in his sights.
Pick: Cecchinato in 3
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Cecchinato in 2
solid pick