Munich R2 previews and predictions: Zverev vs. Chardy, Struff vs. Haas

Alexander Zverev will kick off his Munich campaign when he takes the court against Jeremy Chardy during second-round action on Wednesday. Fellow Germans Tommy Haas and Jan-Lennard Struff are also aiming for a place in the quarterfinals.

Jeremy Chardy vs. (3) Alexander Zverev

Zverev and Chardy will be squaring off for the third time in their careers when they clash in round two of the BMW Open on Wednesday. The head-to-head series is tied at one win apiece; Chardy prevailed 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 on the indoor hard courts of Kuala Lumpur in 2015 before Zverev got the job done 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 also indoors earlier this season in Montpellier. The 20-year-old German eventually captured his second ATP title in Montpellier, one of the main highlights in what has been a somewhat topsy-turvy 2017 campaign. Zverev advanced to the Miami quarterfinals in March but he is a mediocre 3-3 in his last six matches heading into Munich.

Whereas this week’s No. 3 seed earned a first-round bye, Chardy opened on Tuesday by pounding qualifier Jozef Kovalik 6-2, 6-4. The 71st-ranked Frenchman is a decent 12-10 this year with a pair of 250-point quarterfinal performances and a third-round showing in Miami. This is a matchup featuring similar styles and that does not bode well for Chardy, because Zverev can equal him in the serve and forehand departments and boasts a far superior backhand. This should be routine for a more confident world No. 20.

Pick: Zverev in 2

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(7) Jan-Lennard Struff vs. (PR) Tommy Haas

It will be an all-German affair when Haas and Struff meet for the first time in their careers on Wednesday. After missing all of 2015 and losing his first three matches of this season, Haas is starting to pick up the pace even at 39 years old. The former world No. 2 advanced one round in Houston and Monte-Carlo before opening in Munich on Monday with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Sergiy Stakhovsky.

Struff is a respectable 10-9 at the ATP level in 2017 and he registers two spots off his career-high ranking at 48th in the world. The 27-year-old is in stellar form right now with a second-round showing in Indian Wells, a third-round run in Miami, a quarterfinal performance in Marrakech, a third-round finish in Monte-Carlo as a qualifier, and a second-round result in Barcelona. Struff extended his run to six straight tournaments without a first-round loss when he beat German wild card Daniel Masur 6-3, 6-4 on Tuesday. Still, the seventh seed is prone to go off the rails at any time. In his last two setbacks he has won seven total games (6-0, 6-3 against Diego Schwartzman and 6-1, 6-3 against Roberto Bautista Agut). A constantly improving Haas should be able to battle his way into his first quarterfinal of the season–and possibly the last of his career?

Pick: Haas in 3

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