Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic will be squaring off for the Geneva title on Saturday. In Nice, Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev are also looking to head into the French Open with momentum from lifting a winner’s trophy.
Geneva Open: (1) Stan Wawrinka vs. (3) Marin Cilic
Wawrinka has a title defense looming on the immediate horizon at the French Open, but a different trophy will be on his mind on Saturday in Geneva. The top-seeded Swiss has rebounded from a relatively alarming slump to pick up victories this week over Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Pablo Carreno Busta, and Lukas Rosol, surrendering only one set to Rosol in the process. Wawrinka is aiming for his third title of 2016, having previously triumphed in Chennai and Dubai.
Up next for the world No. 4 is a 12th career encounter with Cilic. The head-to-head series stands at 9-2 in favor of Wawrinka, who is 3-0 on clay. He most recently defeated Cilic on the red stuff via a 6-0, 6-2 rout at the 2014 Monte-Carlo Masters. Cilic’s comeback tournament (he had not played since Miami two months ago because of a knee injury) has been extremely impressive so far. The 11th-ranked Croat is through to the final following straight-set defeats of Ernests Gulbis, Federico Delbonis, and David Ferrer. Cilic is looking like he could make this one competitive, but the surface and the home-court advantage should help Wawrinka extend his dominance in this matchup.
Pick: Wawrinka in 3
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Open de Nice Cote d’Azur: (1) Dominic Thiem vs. (8) Alexander Zverev
Speaking of title defenses, Thiem is one win away from going back-to-back in Nice. The 22-year-old Austrian showed brief signs of slowing down amidst a heavy workload earlier in this clay-court swing, but he is No. 2 on the ATP Tour in victories this season (35) and it seems like he wants to keep it that way. Thiem has followed up a quarterfinal performance in Rome by booking a trip to the Nice title match thanks to defeats Leonardo Mayer, Andreas Seppi, and Adrian Mannarino in straight sets.
Saturday will mark the second career meeting and the second of this clay-court swing between two of the game’s brightest current and future stars. Thiem survived their only previous showdown 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 last month in the Munich semifinals before succumbing to Philipp Kohlschreiber one day later. Zverev has gone one step further in Nice, earning a place in his first-ever ATP final. Unlike Thiem, the 19-year-old German had to work hard in order to advance; he got a third-set retirement from Kyle Edmund before outlasting Marcel Granollers, Gilles Simon, and Joao Sousa all in three sets. Thiem will be eager to cook up another quick match so soon before the French Open and he may be able to do so against a fatigued opponent.
Pick: Thiem in 2
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