The Nice title will come down to Leonardo Mayer and Dominic Thiem on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Geneva final will pit Thomaz Bellucci against Joao Sousa.
Nice: (4) Leonardo Mayer vs. Dominic Thiem
Mayer and Thiem will be squaring off for the second time in their careers at the ATP main-draw level and for the third time overall when they battle for the Open de Nice Cote d’Azur title on Saturday. They faced each other twice on clay in 2014, with Thiem prevailing 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-4 in Madrid qualifying before Mayer exacted revenge in the form of a 6-3, 6-2 victory in Hamburg.
Neither man has ever reached an ATP final on anything other than outdoor clay. Mayer finished runner-up in Vina del Mar last season before triumphing in Hamburg. The 24th-ranked Argentine has advanced this week with straight-set wins over Lucas Pouille, Juan Monaco, and Borna Coric. Thiem, who also has not dropped a set, is through to his second title match thanks to defeats of Victor Estrella Burgos, Nick Kyrgios, Ernests Gulbis, and John Isner. The 42nd-ranked Austrian’s run has been especially impressive and not too energy-sapping. In his second career final, this is Thiem’s time.
Pick: Thiem in 3
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Geneva: Joao Sousa vs. Thomaz Bellucci
A week that began with Sousa’s first-ever showdown against Joao Souza could end with his first-ever title on clay. That will be the case if the world No. 50 can win one more match on Saturday in Geneva. So far this week he has taken out Souza, Jurgen Melzer, Pablo Andujar, and Federico Delbonis. It has been an eventful trek through the draw for Sousa, who opened against the guy with basically the same name, endured a heated controversy involving Melzer, and recovered from 6-2 down in a final-set tiebreaker versus Andujar.
Up next for the Portuguese player is a first-ever date with Bellucci, who dropped his first set of the tournament to Marcos Baghdatis but has otherwise run into little drama. The world No. 60 also boasts victories over Denis Istomin, Albert Ramos-Vinolas, and Santiago Giraldo. Bellucci is 3-2 lifetime in ATP finals (3-1 on clay), while Sousa is 1-2 (0-1 on clay). Based on both finals experience and current from (Bellucci is 16-5 in his last 21 matches), a slight edge may go to the Brazilian.
Pick: Bellucci in 3
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Great to see Thiem win a title.