Nice R2 previews and predictions: Thiem vs. Mayer, Zverev vs. Granollers

Fellow seeds Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev will be aiming for spots in the Nice quarterfinals when they take the court on Wednesday. Thiem is facing Leonardo Mayer, while Zverev is going up against Marcel Granollers.

(1) Dominic Thiem vs. Leonardo Mayer

It will be a rematch of the 2015 Open de Nice Cote d’Azur final when Thiem and Mayer square off again on Wednesday. Thiem captured the title last season by outlasting Mayer 6-7(8), 7-5, 7-6(2). The 15th-ranked Austrian also beat Mayer 6-2, 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-6(0) at the Australian Open in January and now leads the overall head-to-head series 3-1 (2-1 at the ATP main-draw level). He also defeated the Argentine on clay 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-4 during Madrid qualifying in 2014. Mayer’s lone victory over Thiem came via a 6-3, 6-2 decision two years ago on the red stuff in Hamburg.

Thiem has cooled off just a bit since a hot streak that saw him lift trophies in Buenos Aires and Acapulco in addition to a semifinal showing in Rio de Janeiro. But this week’s No. 1 seed is still 32-10 for the season and he bounced back from consecutive losses to Philipp Kohlschreiber (Munich final) and Juan Martin Del Potro (Madrid first round) to reach the Rome quarterfinals. Mayer, who dropped his openers in both Madrid and Rome, improved to an even 10-10 for his 2016 campaign by scraping past Jiri Vesely 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-3 on Tuesday. Thiem may not want to go all the way in Nice so soon before the French Open, but should at least be motivated to pick up a win or two in an effort to maintain some momentum after Rome.

Pick: Thiem in 2

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(8) Alexander Zverev vs. Marcel Granollers

Zverev and Granollers will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers and for the second time during this clay-court swing. They recently faced each other in Monte-Carlo, where Granollers got a lucky-loser spot in the main draw and ended up beating Zverev 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in round one. The 19-year-old German has since recovered to reach the Barcelona third round, the Munich semifinals, and the Rome second round (defeated Grigor Dimitrov before losing to Roger Federer). Up to 48th in the world, Zverev owns exactly half of his career ATP-level match victories in 2016 (18 of 36) after getting a retirement from Kyle Edmund on Monday with the score tied at 5-7, 7-5.

Granollers parlayed his good fortune in Monte-Carlo into a quarterfinal performance and he also got into Rome as a lucky loser but lost right away to Joao Sousa. In between, the 58th-ranked Spaniard advanced to the second round in Barcelona and to the quarters in Istanbul. Zverev should be especially motivated to exact revenge on Granollers, and there is no reason to fear a long week in Nice right before Roland Garros. After all, at this point in his career Zverev is unseeded at slams and cannot assume that the draw will allow for a deep run. Zverev must remain focused on racking up ranking points at more accessible tournaments–such as this 250-pointer.

Pick: Zverev in 3

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