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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