Halle R1 previews and predictions: Zverev vs. Coric, Federer vs. Bedene

Alexander Zverev has an intriguing Halle opener on his hands, as he prepares to meet Borna Coric on Tuesday. World No. 1 and recent Stuttgart champion Roger Federer may have a more straightforward affair with Aljaz Bedene.

Borna Coric vs. (2) Alexander Zverev

Zverev and Coric will be squaring off for the fourth time in their careers when they meet again in round one of the Gerry Weber Open on Tuesday. Coric leads the head-to-head series 2-1, having survived a 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(5) thriller at the 2015 Cincinnati Masters before most notably upsetting the German 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(1), 7-6(4) at the 2017 U.S. Open. Zverev got on the scoreboard when he prevailed 6-4, 6-4 earlier this season in Miami.

Although he was a well-documented disaster at Grand Slams prior to a recent quarterfinal performance at the French Open, Zverev has always been productive at 250s, 500s, and Masters 1000s. That includes Halle, where he is 9-3 lifetime with back-to-back runner-up finishes. Zverev has been racking up wins just about everywhere in 2018, with a 34-9 record that has him third in the race to London behind only Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Coric has cooled off a bit following respective semifinal and quarterfinal showings in Indian Wells and Miami, but he at least managed to advance two rounds at Roland Garros. The 34th-ranked Croat is a horrendous 2-9 lifetime on grass (qualifying matches included), so a red-hot Zverev should have an obvious edge in this one.

Pick: Zverev in 2

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(1) Roger Federer vs. Aljaz Bedene

Federer must lift the winner’s trophy in Halle if he wants to avoid another change with the No. 1 ranking, but there is no real reason to think that won’t be the case. After all, the 36-year-old Swiss is 59-6 lifetime at this tournament (52-3 in his last 55 matches) with nine titles. Moreover, he kicked off his grass-court swing and his return to tennis following a two-month layoff by winning last week’s Stuttgart event. Federer started slow there by dropping his first set against Mischa Zverev, but he eventually defeated Zverev, Guido Pella, Nick Kyrgios (in a third-set tiebreaker), and Milos Raonic.
Up first for the top seed on Tuesday is a second career contest against Bedene, who lost their only previous encounter 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 in the Australian Open first round earlier in 2018. Thus another terrible draw awaits the 72nd-ranked Slovenian, who is 17-12 this season but a mere 1-4 in his last five non-retirement matches. Bedene’s grass-court campaign began with a 6-7(6), 7-6(4), 6-3 setback against Marius Copil in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, so there is certainly nothing to suggest that he will have anything with which to trouble Federer.

Pick: Federer in 2 losing 5-7 games

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