Finals previews and predictions: Tsonga vs. Berdych, Wawrinka vs. Zverev

The last two ATP-level matches prior to the French Open will take place on Saturday. A marquee Lyon final pits Jo-Wilfried Tsonga against Tomas Berdych, while Stan Wawrinka is trying to defend his Geneva crown at the expense of Mischa Zverev.

Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Lyon: (3) Tomas Berdych vs. (2) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Tsonga and Berdych will be facing each other for the 13th time in their careers when they battle for the Lyon title on Saturday. Berdych is leading the head-to-head series 8-4, but is tied at one apiece on hard courts (the Czech prevailed 7-5, 6-2 at the 2015 Madrid Masters before Tsonga exacted revenge a few weeks later in four sets at Roland Garros). The two veterans and former Grand Slam finalists most recently met earlier this season on the indoor hard courts of Rotterdam, where Tsonga got the job done 6-3, 6-4.

The 13th-ranked Frenchman eventually captured the Rotterdam title and went back-to-back one week later in Marseille to go 17-3 in his first 20 matches of the year, but the recent birth of his first child has altered his priorities. Tsonga played only three matches from the start of Indian Wells until this week, going 1-2 in those three. But he suddenly finds himself in the Lyon final following wins over Carlos Berlocq, Karen Khachanov, and Nikoloz Basilashvili. Berdych took care of Hyeon Chung and Gilles Simon before avenging a Rome loss to Milos Raonic last week by beating the Canadian 7-6(5), 7-6(2) on Friday. The world No. 14 has been in better from than Tsonga on clay, but Lyon’s second seed is playing at home and should be heartened by the fact that he ended his two-match losing streak against Berdych without much trouble in Rotterdam.

Pick: Tsonga in 3

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Geneva Open: (1) Stan Wawrinka vs. (Q) Mischa Zverev

For the second time in his last three finals, Wawrinka will be going up against a Zverev. This time it is Mischa on a clay court, which should be more advantageous for Wawrinka than when he fell to Alexander indoors at the St. Petersburg Open last fall. The third-ranked Swiss captured four titles in 2016, including the U.S. Open, but he has lost his last two finals–including to Roger Federer in Indian Wells earlier this spring. This run in Geneva is much-needed to say the least for Wawrinka, who lost in the Monte-Carlo third round (Pablo Cuevas), the Madrid second round (Benoit Paire), and the Rome third round (John Isner). He has advanced this week with victories over Rogerio Dutra Silva, Sam Querrey, and Andrey Kuznetsov, dropping one set to Querrey in the process.

The No. 1 seed is 1-1 lifetime against the elder Zverev brother, with a win at Wimbledon nine years ago (via third-set retirement) and a loss last fall on the indoor hard courts of Basel (6-2, 5-7, 6-1). Despite slumping for several months after his amazing run to the Australian Open quarters and also playing on his worst surface, the 33rd-ranked German qualified in Geneva and is through to the title match thanks to main-draw defeats of Robin Haase, John Isner, Steve Johnson, and Kei Nishikori. Asking him to pick up another win against Wawrinka is likely too much, especially on the red stuff.

Pick: Wawrinka in 2

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