Saturday previews and picks: Berdych vs. Ferrer, Goffin vs. Wawrinka

Tomas Berdych and David Ferrer will battle for the Doha title on Saturday. Chennai is still in the semifinals, with a lineup headlined by Stan Wawrinka and David Goffin.

Qatar ExxonMobil Open: (4) David Ferrer vs. (3) Tomas Berdych

Berdych and Ferrer will be facing each other for the 13th time in their careers in the Doha final on Saturday. Ferrer leads the head-to-head series 7-5, including 4-3 on hard courts. A back-and-forth history was once completely dominated by Ferrer, who won six of seven encounters from 2006 to the fall of 2013. The tide, however, has since swung in Berdych’s favor. The seventh-ranked Czech triumphed 6-4, 6-4 at the 2013 World Tour Finals and 6-1, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of last season’s Australian Open.

Surrounding straight-setters against Fernando Verdasco and Dustin Brown, Ferrer needed three sets to defeat Thiemo De Bakker and Ivo Karlovic (the latter in a third-set tiebreaker on Friday). Berdych, on the other hand, has been positively ruthless in routs of Denis Isomin, Blaz Kavcic, Richard Gasquet, and Andreas Seppi. Doha’s No. 3 seed has not dropped serve a single time at this event and has been required to save only four break points.

Pick: Berdych in 3

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Aircel Chennai Open: (1) Stan Wawrinka vs. (4) David Goffin

Wawrinka and Goffin will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers and for the second time in Chennai when they collide on semifinal Saturday. Goffin was just 20 years old and in the main draw of an ATP tournament for the first time in his career when he ran into Wawrinka. The result was a win for Wawrinka but a coming out party for Goffin, as the heavily-favored Swiss prevailed 7-6(3), 7-6(3) en route to his first of two Chennai titles.

Fast forward four years and both men have established themselves as imposing forces on the circuit, albeit in different fashion. Wawrinka captured his first career Grand Slam title at the 2014 Australian Open and he is up to No. 4 in the world. Goffin surged to a 25-match winning streak last summer and has soared to 22nd in the rankings. So far this week Wawrinka has taken out Borna Coric and Gilles Muller, while the fourth-seeded Belgian needed a third-set tiebreaker to get past Ricardas Berankis before beating Andreas Haider-Maurer 7-5, 6-2. Although Wawrinka’s best would beat a peak Goffin, it is the underdog who has been a more consistent and reliable performer of late.

Pick: Goffin in 3

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