Dominic Thiem’s grueling 2016 workload will add another day and Gilles Simon will be aiming for spots in the Nice semifinals on Thursday. They are going up against Andreas Seppi and Alexander Zverev, respectively.
(1) Dominic Thiem vs. Adrian Mannarino
Thiem and Mannarino will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers when they collide in the quarterfinals of the Open de Nice Cote d’Azur on Friday. Both of their previous meetings have gone Thiem’s way; 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-5 at the 2015 Miami Open and 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 indoors at the Paris Masters later that season. The 22-year-old Austrian is doing even bigger and better things in 2016. In fact, he is second on tour in match wins with 34. Fresh off a quarterfinal finish in Rome, Thiem has maintained momentum this week by beating Leonardo Mayer and Andreas Seppi in straight sets.
Mannarino is generally averse to clay, but he has booked a surprising semifinal spot in Nice with victories at the expense of Robin Haase, Benoit Paire, and Guido Pella. The 63rd-ranked Frenchman is a decent 12-10 for his 2016 campaign. Home-court advantage in France should not be too much of a factor in this one, but the same cannot be said of the surface. Thiem would be a heavy favorite in this matchup on any surface (less so on grass), but the red stuff will give him an even more significant edge.
Pick: Thiem in 2
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(5) Joao Sousa vs. (8) Alexander Zverev
Like Thiem, Zverev is on the way to his best-ever season on tour and he appears to be one of the game’s brightest future–if not present–stars. The 19-year-old German already boasts 20 ATP-level match victories, highlighted by a fourth-round performance in Indian Wells and semifinal showing in Montpellier and Munich. So far this week, Zverev has gotten past Kyle Edmund (via retirement), Marcel Granollers (in three sets), and Gilles Simon (in a third-set tiebreaker).
Up next for Zverev is Sousa, whom he has never faced. The 28th-ranked Portuguese is just 12-15 for the year, but he recently advanced to the Madrid quarterfinals and is now through to a semifinal following defeats of Quentin Halys, Victor Estrella Burgos, and a rusty Kevin Anderson. Sousa needed three sets to beat Halys and Estrella Burgos before edging Anderson 7-5, 7-5. Nice’s No. 5 seed managed to break down Anderson, but Zverev is a power player who–unlike the South African–is sky-high on confidence. The teenager may ultimately hit Sousa off the court.
Pick: Zverev in 3
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Thiem is too good right now. Home crowd and Thiem possible fatigue could help mannarino so I’ll say Thiem wins in three. For zverev and Sousa I think Sousa could take advantage of a possibly physically and emotionally tired zverev but I’ll go with the German to fight through another one in three to set up an intriguing final.
Same as Ricky again:
Thiem in 2.
Zverev in 3.
Both favorites should win but honestly can’t understand why they even playing this week with the French starting next week. Maybe one or two games to fine tune things. Just afraid next week comes and they both out in the second round because of fatigue