A Mayer will triumph in Hamburg on Sunday; the only question is if it will be Florian Mayer or Leonardo Mayer. In Gstaad, meanwhile, Fabio Fognini is battling Yannick Hanfmann for the title.
German Tennis Championships: (LL) Leonardo Mayer vs. Floridan Mayer
Florian and Leonardo will be squaring off for the fourth time in their careers when they clash in a surprising Hamburg final on Sunday. The two veterans have faced each other only once since 2010, as Florian most recently prevailed 6-2, 6-3 four years ago on the grass courts of Halle. They had previously split a pair of 2010 encounters, with Florian getting the job done at the Sunrise Challenger and Leonardo taking care of business in Delray Beach.
The ATP Tour is one Leonardo win away from seeing lucky losers lift winners’ trophies in back-to-back weeks (Andrey Rublev emerged victorious on the red clay of Umag last Sunday). The 138th-ranked Argentine fell to Rudolf Molleker in qualifying but got into the main draw when Martin Klizan withdrew. Leonardo has made the most of his opportunity by taking out Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Jan-Lennard Struff, Jiri Vesely, and Federico Delbonis to reach his fourth ATP final. Florian has advanced with victories over Marco Cecchinato, Andrey Kuznetsov, Diego Schwartzman, and Philipp Kohlschreiber–the latter via second-set retirement. The 101st-ranked German is through to his seventh career ATP championship match and looking for his third title. A slight edge may go to Leonardo, who has won eight sets in a row and is a former champion of this event (2014).
Pick: L. Mayer in 3
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Swiss Open Gstaad: (Q) Yannick Hanfmann vs. (4) Fabio Fognini
Mayer vs. Mayer may be unexpected, but an even more improbable finalist will be taking the court on Sunday in Gstaad. Ranked 170th, Hanffman had only three career ATP-level match wins prior to this week. The 25-year-old German and former University of Southern California star has already doubled that total with Gstaad victories at the expense of Facundo Bagnis, Feliciano Lopez, Joao Sousa, and Robin Haase–all in three sets. Hanffman, who had to qualify just to get into the main draw, saved four match points before beating Haase 3-6, 7-6(6), 7-6(4) on Saturday.
Up next for Hanfmann is a first-ever showdown against Fognini, who obviously has far more experience under his belt with 12 previous ATP final appearances and four titles. The 31st-ranked Italian finds himself as part of a championship Sunday once again thanks to three-set defeats of Norbert Gombos, Ernests Gulbis, and Roberto Bautista Agut. Fognini should have way too much game and experience for an opponent who is likely to run out of steam in both the mental and physical departments.
Pick: Fognini in 2
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who ya got?
Fognini in two and Leonardo in three
Have you ever seen Hanfmann play?
I saw him play in college. In Athens!
lol have you seen fabio play?
Fognini may have experience but Hanfmann has:-
1) momentum
2) Confidence of beating far better clay players like Delbonis and very good clay players like Facundo Bagnis, Feliciano Lopez, Joao Sousa, and Robin Haase
3) Has the size and reach advantage! may be power (serving & volleying) advantage!
4) Extra motivation to win the 1st ATP Trophy in his life!
5) Many Stats point to Hanfmann’s advantage! Like far better W/L Record in 2017! etc. Will post soon.
WTA matches needs to be researched.
Conclusion-Strongly leaning on Hanfmann to win in 3 or even 2 sets like he beat the FAV Delbonis whom we all picked!
BB=Over and Hanfmann max. handicap points
Continued from above:-
Point 2) remove Delbo!lol
Hanfmann has a W/L record of 19/6 versus 13/10 for Fognini on Clay in 2017! This shows that Hanfmann is currently in better form on clay!
Just hope Hanfmann doesn’t tire out from playing 7 matches in 7 days!
Common guys, root for this young man to win his 1st ATP Title!
Fognini won Gstaad! I remember predicting Fogini winning Gstaad for his son couple of days ago here and forgot it today!looool
Hanfmann did not have even 50% of the energy that he had yesterday. His movement were very sluggish and missing many easy winners…leading to his loss.
But the +4.5 Handicap points bet won!on hanfmann won! I think over also hit!
Congrats Fog! You deserve it! These kind of opportunities rarely come especially for an aging tennis player like fog!
Leonardo wins the battle of the Mayers! Congrats to him!
I like Leonardo, he’s an aggressive player who’s good on clay but not playing a traditional clay court game. He’s into the top 50 in the rankings, so glad for him. What a sweet baby that Leonardo has!
Florian Mayer had won the Halle title last year so at least he had won on home soil so doesn’t need to be too sad about this, you win some you lose some. His ranking is also moving in the right direction with this final. Congrats to both.
Congrats to Foggy too, his first title I believe after becoming a father. Nice for both fathers to win their respective titles.
How did Leo Mayer win this tournament after losing to a SIXTEEN YEAR OLD in the qualies. Amazing week for Mayer and he is back where he belongs but that German teen Rudolf Molleker who beat him in qualies should also find he has something to really build off of if he can take out the guy who actually won the tournament in that same week lol.
#Tennis
Isner must be tight or something because he can’t return for crap right now even though he has been returning so well lately. Now Harrison has been making many first serves unlike Muller so that may have something to do with it.
you weren’t as loud as #JUSTIN
Here we go JOOOOHNNNNNNN ??
Benny you nearly made me deaf with your loud shoutin or cheerin!lol
John, now win the US Open and win the 3rd title for us! We know it is a big task for you…but you can do it when fans like me,ricky and especially Big Ben rooting big for you (…and defeaning me) like JOOOOHNNNNNNN ??!lol
John Isner showed the ability to win a close match. His serve propelled him to another championship at Atlanta. I’m rating him as a darkhorse at the US Open with his powerful serve and forehand shots. If he is able to volley well it will be key to advancing next month at the US Open.