Marseille R2 previews and picks: Wawrinka vs. Stakhovsky, Goffin vs. Zverev

Stan Wawrinka will kick off his campaign as the top seed in Marseille when he takes the court on Wednesday against Sergiy Stakhovsky. Second-round action also features David Goffin and Mischa Zverev.

(1) Stan Wawrinka vs. Sergiy Stakhovsky

Wawrinka and Stakhovsky will be squaring off for the third time in their careers when they clash in round two of the Open 13 on Wednesday night. The head-to-head series stands at 1-1 after they most recently faced each other last year at this same Marseille tournament, where Stakhovsky pulled off a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 upset. Their previous encounter came in round one of the 2012 U.S. Open, with Wawrinka getting the job done 6-7(6), 7-6(2), 6-4. 6-2.

This is the world No. 4’s first appearance since losing a five-setter to Milos Raonic in the last 16 at the Australian Open. Despite that disappointing result, Wawrinka is still 7-1 this season with another title at his old Chennai stomping grounds. The first five weeks of Stakhovsky’s 2016 campaign were an unmitigated disaster. The 81st-ranked Ukrainian lost five consecutive matches, including two in qualifying. All of a sudden, though, he took out Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(5) on Tuesday. Stakhovsky survived despite squandering a break lead in the third against the Spaniard and all of a 3-0 advantage in the tiebreaker. Regardless of that win, the underdog is in nowhere near the kind of form that would be necessary to score a second straight victory over Wawrinka.

Pick: Wawrinka in 2 with no tiebreakers

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(6) David Goffin vs. (Q) Mischa Zverev

Goffin and Zverev will meeting for the third time in their careers on Wednesday. A 2012 Challenger contest on the hard courts of Le Gosier went Goffin’s way via a 6-2, 6-2 decision before Zverev prevailed 1-6, 6-4, 7-5 on the grass of Halle in 2013. Goffin is a heavy favorite on paper for their second career encounter at the ATP level, but Zverev is in resurgent form at the moment. Mainly because he finally has a clean bill of health but also likely inspired by the rise of his younger brother, Alexander Zverev, the 28-year-old German is back up to No. 175 in the world. His 2015 fall swing featured successful qualification in four consecutive ATP tournaments and a quarterfinal run in Valencia. He also qualified this week before rolling over Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-2, 7-5 on Tuesday.

In need of a successful Marseille campaign after suffering a bad first-round Rotterdam loss to Marcos Baghdatis (Goffin led 5-2 in the final-set tiebreaker only to drop the last five points of the match), the sixth-seeded Belgian opened on Monday with a 6-3, 6-1 beatdown of Hyeon Chung. This is not a particular favorable surface for Goffin on which to face Zverev, but it is certainly more advantageous than grass. Expect a competitive contest, with a slight edge going to the world No. 17.

Pick: Goffin in 3

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