Jannik Sinner and Jan-Lennard Struff are set for a blockbuster quarterfinal showdown in Halle on Friday afternoon. The winner will be favored against either Chris Eubanks or Zhizhen Zhang in the semifinals on Saturday.
(1) Jannik Sinner vs. Jan-Lennard Struff
Sinner and Struff will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers and for the third time this season when they clash in the Terra Wortmann Open quarterfinals on Friday. Both of their previous meetings have gone Sinner’s way; 6-3, 6-4 in Indian Wells and 6-4, 6-2 in Monte-Carlo.
A surface sweep is probably in the cards even though Struff is formidable on any surface. The 41st-ranked German is 21-12 this season with a clay-court title in Munich, a quarterfinal performance last week in Stuttgart (withdrew due to illness) and Halle victories over Luciano Darderi (12-10 in the third-set tiebreaker) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (6-4, 6-4). Sinner has improved to an amazing 35-3 for his 2014 campaign following three-set defeats of Tallon Griekspoor and Fabian Marozsan. Six sets of grass-court tennis under the world No. 1’s belt should serve him well and he will likely raise his level with an extremely dangerous opponent on the other side of the net.
Pick: Sinner in 2
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Zhizhen Zhang vs. Chris Eubanks
Unsurprisingly, a return to grass has been just what the doctor ordered for Eubanks. The 44th-ranked American has struggled to win any matches whatsoever since leaving the All-England Club last summer on the heels of a breakthrough quarterfinal run (5-9 in his last 14 matches of 2023, 4-12 in his first 16 matches of 2024). Finally, though, Eubanks is feeling good again thanks to Halle wins at the expense of Pedro Martinez and defending champion Alexander Bublik.
Next up for the reigning Mallorca winner is a first-ever encounter with Zhang. The world No. 42 from China is .500 for the year (16-16) after taking out both Sebastian Ofner and Daniil Medvedev in three sets. Zhang is decent on grass with a 10-10 lifetime record, but he would obviously prefer to face Eubanks on any other surface. If the Georgia Tech product serves well, more success for him on this surface will likely be in the cards.
Pick: Eubanks in 3
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Both matches versus Struff were on super slow surfaces. I think Struff wins in 3. Haven’t been convinced of Jannik on grass this week
There’s a bit of tension out there atm