The final ATP matches before Wimbledon will be contested on Saturday. Stanislas Wawrinka is going up against Nicolas Mahut for the ‘s-Hertogenbosch title while Gilles Simon is facing Feliciano Lopez in Eastbourne.
Topshelf Open: (Q) Nicolas Mahut vs. (2) Stanislas Wawrinka
Mahut and Wawrinka will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers at the ATP level when they square off in the Topshelf Open final on Saturday. They have, however, faced each other twice before–once at a Challenger and again at a Futures event. Mahut prevailed both times, but they came almost 10 years ago.
At 31 years old, Mahut is still a presence on tour and he appears to be rounding into form on the singles court after an injury-plagued slump. The 240th-ranked Frenchman qualified for the main draw in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and has since taken out Ricardas Berankis, Andrey Kuznetsov, Evgeny Donskoy, and Xavier Malisse all in straight sets. While this certainly comes as a surprise, Mahut has always been a force on grass (highlights include the match against John Isner and a 2007 Queen’s Club runner-up finish). Wawrinka is also yet to drop a set this week, although his matches have been slightly more competitive and three of the four have featured a tiebreaker. The 10th-ranked Swiss opened with a win over lucky loser Steve Darcis before defeating Paolo Lorenzi, Jeremy Chardy, and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Wawrinka, who has not lost to anyone other than Rafael Nadal since Monte-Carlo, is an awesome 34-10 for his 2013 campaign.
The second will have to produce more of the same in this one because Mahut’s aggressive tactics work to perfection on grass. Wawrinka has the edge in finals experience (4-8 to Mahut’s 0-2 record), but his opponent’s confidence has to be peaking with his performances this week. Mahut should have a good shot at the upset, but the underdog will have to serve extremely well in order to pull it off.
Pick: Mahut in 3
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Aegon International: Feliciano Lopez vs. (2) Gilles Simon
Lopez and Simon will be colliding for the second time in their careers when they battle for the Aegon International title on Saturday. Their only previous encounter came on the indoor hard courts of Rotterdam in 2008, when Simon prevailed 6-3, 6-4. The 28-year-old Frenchman is not quite in the same form he enjoyed at that time, but he continued to lurk between No. 10 and No. 20 in the world. Currently 17th, Simon owns a solid 29-15 record for the season following Eastbourne wins over Kyle Edmund, Bernard Tomic, and Andreas Seppi.
Plagued by a wrist injury earlier in the year, Lopez has not played as much tennis as Simon in 2013 and he sports a modest 13-9 mark for the season. Like Simon, the 39th-ranked Spaniard has not dropped a set this week. The two finalists are a combined 7-0 in tiebreakers, with Lopez having taken out Jarkko Nieminen, Juan Monaco, Fernando Verdasco, and Ivan Dodig. Lopez is maintaining recent momentum from a third-round showing at the French Open and the same result at Queen’s Club as a qualifier.
On a slower surface, Simon would likely have too much consistency in extended baseline rallies against Lopez. On grass, though, the 31-year-old can dictate play with his booming serve while getting into net at opportune times. Still, Simon is an expert counter-puncher who can use opponents’ pace against them. The No. 2 seed has overcome an ankle-injury scare from earlier in the week and he should be able to cap off his Eastbourne campaign in style after a hard-fought encounter.
Pick: Simon in3
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Am going to disagree w/the Mahut pick. I think Wka has too much experience and is more comfortable in a Finals setting. I do think Simon will take down Lopez.