The Stuttgart title is coming down to Roger Federer and Milos Raonic after Federer outlasted Nick Kyrgios in a third-set tiebreaker on Saturday. In ‘s-Hertogenbosch, meanwhile, an all-French final features Richard Gasquet and Jeremy Chardy.
Mercedes Cup: (1) Roger Federer vs. (7) Milos Raonic
Federer and Raonic will be squaring off for the 14th time in their careers when they battle for the Stuttgart title on Sunday afternoon. The head-to-head series stands at 10-3 in favor of Federer, who has won three of their four previous grass-court encounters. They have split a pair of Wimbledon meetings the past two seasons, with Raonic scoring a 6-3, 6-7(3), 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 semifinal upset before Federer cruised 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(4) in last year’s quarters. Unlike in his loss to Raonic at the All-England Club, the Swiss was healthy and well-rested in 2017–and that is exactly what he is this time around, too. Federer is back after skipping the clay-court swing and he will return to No. 1 in the world next week thanks to victories over Mischa Zverev (3-6, 6-4, 6-2), Guido Pella (6-4, 6-4), and Nick Kyrgios (in a third-set tiebreaker).
Raonic played in Monte-Carlo and Madrid, reaching the third round in both places, but also missed the French Open. The world No. 35 is now recovered from a knee injury and has clinched a seed at Wimbledon with Stuttgart defeats of Mirza Basic, Marton Fucsovics, Tomas Berdych, and Lucas Pouille. Raonic has not yet dropped a set this week, but Federer has been holding serve just as easily and the top seed’s return game is obviously far superior.
Pick: Federer in 2
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Libema Open: Jeremy Chardy vs. (2) Richard Gasquet
It will be an all-French affair when Gasquet and Chardy face each other for the sixth time in their careers and for the third time in less than three months–this time in the ‘s-Hertogenbosch final on Sunday. Gasquet is leading the head-to-head series 4-1 following a 6-4, 7-6(5) victory on the red clay of Monte-Carlo. That avenged a 7-5, 6-1 loss to Chardy at the Miami Masters, where the former world No. 7 was plagued by a back injury.
Grass has been just what the doctor ordered for Chardy, who was wallowing down at No. 100 in the rankings earlier this season and registered at 86th just a few weeks but will climb to No. 61 on Monday even if he loses in the title match. The 31-year-old triumphed at the Surbiton Challenger last week and so far in Stuttgart he has taken out Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (in a third-set tiebreaker), Adrian Mannarino, Mackenzie McDonald (in another third-set tiebreaker), and Matthew Ebden. Gasquet punched his ticket to championship Sunday by beating Evgeny Donskoy, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Bernard Tomic, surrendering just one set to Tomic in the process. The world No. 30 can improve to 15-15 lifetime in ATP finals with a victory in this one, and he should be able to do that against a familiar foe whom he has mostly owned aside from the injury-induced Miami setback.
Pick: Gasquet in 3
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who ya got?
Spot-on analysis, Ricky. If Fed didn’t lose to Kyrgios, he’s not losing to a still-below-form Raonic. Fed has been serving beautifully, and he’ll get a break each set. Fed in 2.
Go Milos Raonic, go!
Try as I do, I cannot warm to Raonic. I am irritated by the lugubrious, inscrutable court persona and his general air of entitlement.
Fed for the win in 2
Haha! Brilliant description of raonic ed! Totally agree!!
Also agree with Ed. Have not been able to cheer for Milos in years – I think you sum it up well.
Federer win. Congrats to Fedfans. He’s off to a good start on grass in Stuttgart. Now we see what he can do in Halle 😀
At the same time a great Final match between two small but mighty players was going on in ‘s-Hertogenbosch: Flipkens vs Krunic – love both of their tennis but very happy Aleksandra Krunic got her first WTA title!
And another thing: he thinks he is a much better player than he actually is. Only 8 titles out of 14 finals and only one of those was a 500 title – all the rest were 250s in spite of having three coaches working with him simultaneously at one point.
# A case of too many cooks spoil the broth
I love that word lugubrious, so descriptive!
To be fair to Raonic, he’s not alone in having such an on court persona and unappealing game.
Plus roanic is basically just a serve bot. A less serve bot than Isner too.
I used to like Milos’ game when he was more of a baseliner. He’s trying to be an s&ver but looks so clumsy.
Yes, Big Al. I think that’s part of it. He’s making progress trying to serve and volley but his baseline game was far more easy on the eyes 😀
Definitely it’s what Ed says too, tho.
Have you ever heard him commentating? Very insightful.I still cant warm to him, he’s got the same demeanour as Berdych and Lendl (the latter is in a class of his own, though)
Ive seen no evidence of a sense of humour,though . Someone aske dhim what he thought of Miley Cyrus’s latest single, and he replied..’uh…I am not a fan of Mileys’.
I’m in awe of Federer’s longevity.. It’s hard to believe he is nudging 37 and can still effortlessly run circles round most players on the circuit.
Ed, I’m more in awe with Rafa, that despite all his injuries and not having a great serve like Fed’s, he’s still able to beat all his opponents on clay, young or old! Imagine Rafa having Fed’s serve, how much more he could win!
Fed has his serve to help him, without that he would also need to grind and Im sure he would not win as much. Of course the fact that he has such a great serve is in itself a testament to his greatness.
Ed, I believe you said you saw Rosewall play in the 50s, so (if I may say so) you obviously have some first-hand experience with longevity.
Do you have any comparisons to make between late-career Fed and late-career Rosewall? Did the latter tail off significantly in his late 30s? He was evidently good enough to make slam finals, even if he lost badly to Connors.
Interesting for Fed . He plays Halle now , plays back to back and plays 5 more matches before Wimbledon. Its a bit too much tennis just before Wimby. I won’t be surprised if he pulls out in case he feels too tired even though grass court matches are less taxing
I’m a bit worried in that regard, but still I’m just happy for Roger at the moment. This was a tough tournament for an ATP 250 and he actually may have easier late round opponents in Halle, as Mr Kyrgios (who is looking like Roger’s biggest Wimbledon threat) is at Queen’s. I’m sure Roger will grind through this grass court swing (and hopefully find lots of success) then take some time off until Cincinnati.
Well, it makes me wonder. Like Ed again, I’m in awe of his agility and speed after all these years. He’s phenomenal.
It does seem like a lot of matches just before Wimbledon. But his draw in Halle could be tiring. I have him losing to Sascha in the final 😀 But Fed should go out earlier so save himself for the big one. But he does appreciate and like performing in front of his fans in Halle.
If fed does not win Halle..he goes back to no 2 right ?
Yes, I think in a way Rafa has come out of this number 1 race but Fed is still in it.
Yes. Basically Fed is playing for the top seed at Wimbledon next week lol.
no difference between 1 and 2 seed
Fed will be seeded #1 at Wimbledon even if he’s back to #2 in the rankings since Wimbly seedings rely heavily on grass court performance over the previous 2 (I think) years.
yep
Oh yeah that’s right Ramara. My bad
That’s what I thought. Wimby seeds differently, based on prior years performance.
It’s no biggie because Fed and Rafa will be 1 and 2, no difference really with the draw.
I see that Fed won expected. Congratulations to him. I have never been a fan of Raonic. I don’t like his game, don’t like his persona on court like a stone. I had no doubt that Fed would win.
Now it’s on to Halle.
Another nice win by Fed. Raonic didn’t play badly, but he doesn’t leave much room for error on his groundies, and obviously his mobility is not great at his size.
I don’t think Fed will be too tired for Wimby. And I think he’ll be motivated to win Halle, both to keep #1, but also to keep momentum. It would be great to win Wimby and have that be his 100th title.
Speaking of that, even though it’s getting ahead of everything, I think that if he keeps this up he’ll have a decent chance of catching Connors’ record if he plays through 2020. If healthy, after wimby you’d have to think he has a good chance of winning Cinci, Basel, Shanghai. Anything else would be a bonus, but that likely gets him over 100 this year.
I didn’t watch the match..but i know Fed won..so congrats,congrats,congrats for him & of cozzzzz his nize & usual loyal fanzzzz here!!….
Wooohooo!!98 title??Hehehe….He’s truly AMAZING!!