Alexander Zverev will continue his bid for a second straight Cologne title when he goes up against Adrian Mannarino on Friday. Jannik Sinner and Gilles Simon are also part of the quarterfinal lineup.
(1) Alexander Zverev vs. (8) Adrian Mannarino
Zverev and Mannarino will be going head-to-head for the fourth time in their careers when they battle for a semifinal spot at the bett1HULKS Championship on Friday. They most recently faced each other at this summer’s U.S. Open, where Zverev improved to 3-0 against Mannarino with a 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 third-round victory. That match was marked by coronavirus controversy, as it was unclear if Mannarino would be allowed to play because the Frenchman had been in close contact with Benoit Paire.
Mannarino at least managed to take a set off the German for the first time, and he may be poised for even more in this one. Cologne’s No. 8 seed has been crushing opponents this week–6-2, 6-2 over Alexei Popyrin and 6-3, 6-3 at the expense of Miomir Kecmanovic. Zverev is coming off a tough three-setter against John Millman and the wheels may be coming off just a bit, as he won the first Cologne title last week and has obviously been playing a ton of tennis. The world No. 7 double-faulted 10 times against Millman and that simply won’t be good enough with Mannarino on the other side of the net.
Pick: Mannarino in 3
Gilles Simon vs. (WC) Jannik Sinner
Who knows where Sinner would be ranked if not for the five-month coronavirus hiatus? Even with the break, the 19-year-old Italian is up to No. 46 in the world and has already won 12 matches on the main tour this season. That is more than half of his career total (23). Sinner has been in especially ruthless form this week, erasing James Duckworth 6-1, 6-2 and Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-3, 6-1.
Up next for the wild card is a first-ever meeting with Simon, who is 16 years his senior at 35. The Frenchman still registers at a decent 58th in the rankings, but he recently admitted that good days a fewer and farther between than they were in the past. One of those good days came in round two, when Simon upset Denis Shapovalov 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 to book his spot in this matchup. Another one may be too much to ask, as Sinner will likely have way too much firepower on an indoor hard court.
Pick: Sinner in 2
WWW?
Sinner in three,Zverev in three .Although I wrongly predicted a Shapo win overall , I didn’t think Zverev would be up to it this week so now think Schwartzman will win the whole caboodle.