No. 1 seed Daniil Medvedev takes on Jannik Sinner for the second year in a row in Marseille. In other action on Friday, No. 2 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas battles Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert for a spot in the semifinals.
(1) Daniil Medvedev vs. Jannik Sinner
On March 15, Daniil Medvedev is going to do something no player outside the “Big Four” (Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray) has done since Lleyton Hewitt in 2005; he will become one of the top two players in the world. It will be all the better if he can do so on the back of his first singles title of 2021. He’ll have to get past Jannik Sinner first, though.
Medvedev suffered an odd loss at the hands of Dusan Lajovic in the first round in Rotterdam, but otherwise the Russian looks every bit the No. 2 player in the world–which puts Sinner’s prospects in this quarterfinal somewhat in doubt. Sinner has produced a great start to the season. The Italian, who is ranked 34th in the world, captured his second title at one of the Australian Open warmup events bu limped through his next two events–losing in the first round at the Aussie Open and Montpellier.
Medvedev and Sinner’s only other match came last year at this same event, which Medvedev won with an odd 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 scoreline. Sinner might get a set again on Friday, but Medvedev should find his way to the semifinals.
Cheryl pick: Medvedev in 3
Ricky pick: Sinner in 3
(2) Stefanos Tsitispas vs. Pierre-Hugues Herbert
Alhough the top seeds dropped like flies in Doha, the top three seeds in Marseille are still intact (Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas are also joined by No. 3 seed Karen Khachanov). Tsitsipas has enjoyed top 10 success in the ATP since 2019. He is the defending Marseille champion; his only title in the abbreviated 2020 season.
Pierre-Hugues Herbert, the current world No. 93, defeated Tsitsipas the only other time the two men played back in 2018 in Shenzhen. However, it seems unlikely for history to repeat itself in this case. Herbert did well to make the quarterfinals this week. The Frenchman has had a dismal season so far. Until this week he failed to win two matches in a row in any of the tournaments he entered.
Tsitsipas has a pair of semifinals to show for his 2021 efforts so far. With Herbert playing at home this might not be the drubbing their respective rankings would suggest, but Tsitsipas should make his way to the semis in relatively comfortable fashion.
Cheryl pick: Tsitsipas in 2
Ricky pick: Tsitsipas in 2
WWW?
Med in 2; Tpas in 2.