One day after upsetting Roger Federer, Dominic Thiem will be looking for his first-ever title on grass when he takes the court against Philipp Kohlschreiber on Sunday in Stuttgart. In ‘s-Hertogenbosch, meanwhile, Nicolas Mahut is aiming for his third title in the last four seasons.
Mercedes Cup: (3) Dominic Thiem vs. (7) Philipp Kohlschreiber
It will be a showdown between doubles partners–both this week and next week in Halle–when Thiem and Kohlschreiber battle for the Stuttgart title on Sunday. They have faced each other on two previous occasions, with Kohlschreiber leading the head-to-head series 2-0. The German prevailed 6-0, 7-6(6) on the clay courts of Kitzbuhel last season and 7-6(7), 4-6, 7-6(4) again on clay in the recent Munich final. Thiem’s appearance in his ninth career ATP final may be the most surprising of all–but not because he has been lacking form, of course. Not only is grass the 22-year-old Austrian’s least favorite surface, but he is also coming right off a semifinal run at the French Open and he had to face Roger Federer in Saturday’s semis. Federer twice came within one point of victory, but Thiem battled back for a 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-4 upset. The world No. 7 preceded that result by taking out Sam Groth and Mikhail Youzhny.
Kohlschreiber is through to his 15th career ATP final and second of the year following straight-set wins this week over Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Denis Kudla, Radek Stepanek, and Juan Martin Del Potro. The 26th-ranked German is an even 7-7 lifetime in title matches and he boasts a solid 24-11 record for the 2016 campaign. Grass is a surface that favors Kohlschreiber, but Thiem’s confidence on the green stuff has to be soaring in the wake of Saturday’s performance and he will eager to avenge his recent defeats at the hands of his doubles partner.
Pick: Thiem in 3
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Ricoh Open: (7) Gilles Muller vs. (8) Nicolas Mahut
Heading into Sunday’s action in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the six previous meetings between Muller and Mahut have all come at either the Futures or Challenger levels. Now the two veterans find themselves battling for an ATP title. Prior to this same event in 2013, Mahut had zero such titles in his entire career. At 32 years old, the Frenchman finally found the winners circle, after which he lifted the Newport trophy a few weeks later and triumphed again in ‘s-Hertogenbosch last summer. Clearly a grass-court specialist, Mahut–who recently ascended to the No. 1 doubles ranking–has advanced to another final with victories this week over Lukas Lacko, Paul-Henri Mathieu, Bernard Tomic, and Sam Querrey.
At 33 years old and still saddled with zero ATP titles in three final appearances, Muller will be hoping to take a page out of his opponent’s book. In the twilight of a career that once saw the Luxembourgian peak at 34th in the world and currently has him at No. 44, he has to be considered one of the best players to have never captured a title. Muller is now one win away–again–thanks to defeats of Robin Haase, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, David Ferrer, and Ivo Karlovic. This has to be considered Muller’s best chance to get over the hump, as his three previous finals have all come against Grand Slam singles champions. He lost to Lleyton Hewitt 12 years ago in Washington, D.C., to Andre Agassi in Los Angeles one season later, and to Andy Roddick at the 2012 Atlanta event. That being said, facing Mahut in ‘s-Hertogenbosch is a very difficult proposition and the seventh seed will undoubtedly be feeling a ton of pressure.
Pick: Mahut in 3
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i am very 50-50 on these. should be great matches.
Mahut and Kohlschreiber in three
I think Thiem will continue his winning ways by beating Kohls in 3 sets. I think it should be a close match.
I wish that I saw Fed/Thiem. That sounded like a good one. I will try to see if there is a replay.
I think Mahut will beat Muller in 3 sets. These should both be good matches.
Kohls for the win.
Few players win their next match after beating fed.
Hawkeye,
That could well be true. It sounded like quite the battle. Kohls is a tough competitor and capable of getting the win if Thiem is gassed after his previous match.
It could go either way and your reasoning is sound. But I will stick with Thiem and if I am wrong, well it sure won’t be the first time. : )
Kholi and Muller for the wins. 2-0 in both )7-6, 7-6 in gm v nm) if I’m pushed to pick. Muller has been simply sensational behind his serve when I’ve seen him this week, and Kohli has been simply sensational. Roger gave Thiem a fair bit for free. I don’t see the German giving him anything tomorrow the way he’s been playing.
Kohlschreiber in 3
Mahut in 3
What? Not going Team Thiem? 😉
Thiem in 3. Munich revenge coming…
Mahut in 3.
I watched both matches and right now I don’t know if anyone can beat Kohlschreiber right now… The Del Potro match favored Del Potro with the rain delay and it didn’t even phase him. Plus I never go against the Home Favorite and the crowd was a huge confidence booster for Kohlschreiber. It’s honestly 50-50 so I just went with the Home favorite.
Hi RC i thought id cracked it, but im still having problems registering, so i missed the challenge this time, anyway sad Delpo lost, but i do like Phil.K, and a solid week for Delpo first tournie back, so baby steps first, and had a think about it yesterday, and although im not quite ready to let Rafa go completely, im really becoming a fan of these new guys, and i love Thiem i must say, hope he wins the final today ;-)….
As for the Stuttgart final match, Philipp Kohlschreiber should be able to capitalise on his richer experience and home-courts support to lift the trophy.
Apologies to Ricky. I had not seen today’s predictions were up.
I am staying loyal to Thiem. Just because he has already lost to Kohlbi in finals doesn’t mean he won’t be third time lucky as long as he has a half-way decent serving day – been a bit dodgy in that department recently 🙁
Thiem in 3
I like Mahut against Muller
Marathon Man in 3
sees like the whole of Europe is shrouded in rain today – doesn’t bode too well for the rest of the grass tournaments if this non-summer continues.
Correction:
For some reason it’s not raining in Halle. The qualifying rounds are being played there.
And surprise, surprise ditto Birmingham.
Had a look at the radar map for Europe last night, ed. Halle and Birmingham were farther north than the bands of rain. The rain has been soaking Northern France and the South of Germany east to Bavaria.
I’m a ‘Merican, so my map reading skills might not be the best but it looked really bad for getting the Stuttgart final done today.
Mallorca would be my choice, if I had one. Even with the draw they’ve got. The grounds looked inviting.
I’ve given up trying to correct autocorrect.
I dispair
to continue
I can’t believe the English commentator for Kohlbi-Thiem match. Rain stopped play at 1:1. When they resumed play he announced Kohlbi had the upper hand in this match. The stats showed a different story.
Dang Kohls is too good holding serve for 5-5. 1st set.
Thiem’s trophy position in the picture above reminds of Rafa’s in his earlier years…he is under-utilizing his strength…
This is what I was talking about that day… You see Muller and Mahut reaching the finals of a grass-court event whereas you had probably forgotten these two players exist on the singles circuit! Grass is grass and it will always remain so. It strongly favors different patterns and styles of play.
So it WAS 3rd time lucky for Thiem 🙂
Weird watching on Tennis TV. No scores shown on screen and the sound system left something to be desired. But some interesting camera work with unusual angles.
Some pretty ragged tennis from both men but Thiem kept his head after wobbling while serving for the match.
Domi’s jumping tweener at 1:26 min.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSwXgG6_5Ns
Looks like they had to finish the match on a court that had been covered since before it started raining — nice and dry.
congratulations to me