Madrid R2 previews and predictions: Ferrer vs. Zverev, Tsitsipas vs. Mannarino

David Ferrer will try to extend his final tournament by at least one more match as he battles Alexander Zverev during second-round action on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Estoril champion Stefanos Tsitsipas will take on Adrian Mannarino.

(WC) David Ferrer vs. (3) Alexander Zverev

This is a winnable match for David Ferrer. The rankings tell a different story, of course; Ferrer sits at No. 144 in the world and he hasn’t even come close to winning a tournament since 2017. Alexander Zverev, by contrast, is the world No. 4. He is the defending Madrid champion and he won three other tournaments last year, including the Nitto ATP Finals. The German will go into Wednesday’s match as the favorite–but far less of one than he should be on paper.

First, there is the fact that Ferrer upset Zverev in their last meeting this March in Miami. It was an unlikely win, given that Zverev had won their previous four encounters. But that could easily be written off as a fluke. The bigger problem for the youngster, though, is that he’s had an absolutely miserable run of late. Since he lost in Miami, he hasn’t managed to win more than a single match at a time. He lost to Nicolas Jarry last week in Barcelona and went down to Cristian Garin in Munich (though it should be noted that Garin went on to win the event).

Given that Ferrer is playing possibly his last match ever and he’s playing in front of the home crowd, expect a massive fight from the Spaniard. Unless Zverev can shake off the funk he’s in, Ferrer may survive for one more match.

Cheryl pick: Zverev in 3

Ricky pick: Zverev in 2

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(8) Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. (LL) Adrian Mannarino

Rising star Stefanos Tsitsipas just snagged his first clay-court title in Estoril last week. Given the amount of tennis he plays, fatigue may well be a factor as this week wears on. But as one of the top eight seeds, he earned a first-round bye so this will be his first match since Sunday. He will take on Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, who failed to qualify for the even but squeaked into the main draw as a lucky loser. He took out Joao Sousa in the first round.

Until last week, Tsitsipas endured a poor start to the European clay-court swing. The Greek won just one match each in Monte-Carlo and Barcelona. He performed well on clay last year, which was his breakout season. Mannarino for his part sometimes finds himself on the Challenger circuit; the Frenchman just played in Bordeaux last week. He lost in the quarters to world No. 169 Mikael Ymer, so that does not bode well for his chances against much tougher competition.

Cheryl pick: Tsitsipas in 2

Ricky pick: Tsitsipas in 2

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