Alexander Zverev will be making quick turnaround on the heels of a huge win when he goes up against Gael Monfils on Friday in Rotterdam. Marin Cilic and Philipp Kohlschreiber are also aiming for a place in the semifinals.
(5) Gael Monfils vs. (WC) Alexander Zverev
Monfils and Zverev will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers when they square off in the quarterfinals of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament on Friday. Their only previous meeting also came on an indoor hard court last season in Marseille, where Monfils prevailed 6-1, 7-6(12). Fast forward almost exactly 12 months and Zverev is a much-improved player. At just 18 years old, the German will find himself in the top 60 of the world rankings next week. He made a run to the Montpellier semifinals last week and so far in Rotterdam he has taken out Vasek Pospisil (7-5, 6-2) and Gilles Simon (in a third-set tiebreaker on Thursday).
Also in stellar form, Monfils reached the Australian Open quarters while benefiting from the section of the draw vacated by Rafael Nadal. The 18th-ranked Frenchman lost right away in Montpellier to Edouard Roger-Vasselin, but that appears to be nothing more than an aberration. Monfils is back in business this week with mostly straightforward defeats of Ernests Gulbis and Borna Coric. The No. 5 seed will smell blood in the water with Zverev coming off a grueling 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(4) victory that required two hours and 55 minutes. Although Zverev is on a momentous rise that will surely continue, it will be halted briefly by both an in-form opponent and obvious fatigue.
Pick: Monfils in 2
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Philipp Kohlschreiber vs. (2) Marin Cilic
Cilic and Kohlschreiber used to play each other all the time. All of a sudden following the summer of 2012, they simply started avoiding each other in draws with alarming consistency. The two veterans have squared off on eight previous occasions heading into Friday’s quarterfinal date in Rotterdam, but not one of those meetings has come in the last three years. Kohlschreiber leads the head-to-head series 5-3, including 3-2 on hard courts (they are tied 2-2 indoors). Their most recent encounter came four seasons ago on the clay courts of Munich, where the German benefited from home-court advantage and beat Cilic 7-6(8), 6-3 for the title.
Success in Rotterdam was–and still is–critically important to each man. Cilic was just 3-3 for his 2016 campaign and had lost two straight matches heading into this week, in straight sets to both Roberto Bautista Agut (Australian Open) and Zverev (Montpellier). The second-seeded Croat booked his spot in these quarterfinals by taking out Denis Istomin and Gilles Muller without surrendering a set. Kohlschreiber is coming off a quarterfinal showing in Sofia, but that tournament ended for him with a routine setback against Viktor Troicki. The world No. 32 also had a 3-3 record before beginning this week with convincing defeats of Julien Benneteau and Ivan Dodig. But Kohlschreiber has struggled mightily throughout his career against higher-ranked opponents and that trend is likely to continue.
Pick: Cilic in 2
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