Final previews and predictions: Raonic vs. Cilic, Zverev vs. Pella

The Istanbul title is all coming down to the top two seeds on Sunday, when Milos Raonic and Marin Cilic will square off in an intriguing final. In Munich, meanwhile, Alexander Zverev and Guido Pella are the last two men left standing.

Istanbul Open: (1) Milos Raonic vs. (2) Marin Cilic

Raonic and Cilic will be squaring off for just the third time in their careers and for the first time in four years when they battle for the Istanbul title on Sunday. They have split their two previous encounters, with Cilic getting the job done 6-4, 6-4 on the indoor hard courts of Valencia in 2011 before Raonic prevailed 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 at the 2013 Indian Wells Masters.

Although this is a somewhat surprising clay-court final, Raonic and Cilic are the top two seeds in Istanbul for a reason and they simply outclassed the rest of the field from start to finish. Raonic has improved with each match, beating Aljaz Bedene in a third-set tiebreaker, Bernard Tomic in a pair of tiebreakers, and Viktor Troicki 6-2, 6-3 on Saturday. Cilic did not drop a set en route to the title match, taking out Damir Dzumhur, Steve Darcis, and defending champion Diego Schwartzman along the way. It is true that Cilic is at his best on fast hard courts and grass, but this is his sixth career ATP final on clay. Combine that with the fact that the eighth-ranked has been the best player the whole way this week, he should have a slight edge on Sunday.

Pick: Cilic in 3

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BMW Open: (Q) Guido Pella vs. (3) Alexander Zverev

After winning match point against fellow German Jan-Lennard Struff in the quarterfinals, Zverev announced, “this is my [expletive] court” on the way to shake hands. It very well may be his court following Sunday’s Munich title match against Pella. The world No. 20 is a clear favorite in this one as the third seed and a proud owner of two ATP titles (from four finals) in his brief ATP career. He is through to another final thanks to victories in Munich over Struff (in a third-set tiebreaker), Jeremy Chardy (6-4, 6-4), and Roberto Bautista Agut (7-5, 7-5). Moreover, Zverev is 1-0 lifetime against Pella following a 6-1, 7-6(7) victory on clay at the 2015 Heilbronn Challenger.

From just about out of nowhere, Pella has suddenly picked up the pace this spring. The Argentine is down at No. 158 in the rankings due in a part to an 0-5 record to begin this season, but he advanced to the Sao Paulo quarterfinals, the Indian Wells second round, and the Miami third round. Now he finds himself in his second career ATP final by virtue of defeating Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, Fabio Fognini, Horacio Zeballos (in a third-set tiebreaker), and Hyeon Chung. Pella also had to qualify just to get into the main draw. Going up against an opponent who hits a much bigger ball and has far more experience at this stage of ATP events may result in the end of the qualifier’s impressive run.

Pick: Zverev in 2

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