Semifinal previews and predictions: Raonic vs. Auger-Aliassime, Coric vs. Mannarino

A spot in the Stuttgart title match will be at stake when Milos Raonic faces Felix Auger-Aliassime on Saturday. In ‘s-Hertogenbosch, meanwhile, Borna Coric is going up against Adrian Mannarino in the semifinals.

Mercedes Cup: (7) Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. (6) Milos Raonic

It will be an all-Canadian affair when Raonic and Auger-Aliassime collide in the Stuttgart semifinals on Saturday afternoon. Their only previous encounter came last season on the hard courts of Indian Wells, where Raonic prevailed 6-4, 6-4. They have been going in different directions since then, to the extent that Auger-Aliassime has a good chance of becoming Canada’s top-ranked player at Wimbledon–if not before. The 18-year-old is already up to No. 21 in the world thanks to an awesome 2019 campaign in which he is 23-12 on the main tour. So far this week he has ousted Ernests Gulbis, Gilles Simon, and Dustin Brown, saving one match point against Brown on Friday to triumph 7-6(2), 6-7(3), 7-6(2).

Raonic’s struggles, as usual, have mostly been due to injury. The world No. 18 had not played since the Miami Masters in March prior to taking the court in Stuttgart, where he has gotten back in gear thanks to victories over Alexei Popyrin, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Marton Fucsovics. Whereas Raonic has always excelled on grass, this is his opponent’s first-ever ATP-level tournament on the surface. With Auger-Aliassime coming off an absolute battle against Brown, the youngster may not have enough left in the tank to withstand Raonic’s certain barrage of aces.

Pick: Raonic in 2

[polldaddy poll=10343134]

Libema Open: Adrian Mannarino vs. (2) Borna Coric

In ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Coric also saved a match point in his quarterfinal contest and then won it in a third-set tiebreaker. Christian Garin led 5-2 in the decider and served for victory twice only to see Coric storm back for a 6-7(4), 6-3, 7-6(6) win. The second-seeded Croat preceded that result by defeating Taylor Fritz 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, improving to 19-10 in 2019 and giving him multiple match victories in three straight tournaments.

Up next for Coric on Saturday is a third career meeting with Mannarino, who leads the head-to-head series 2-0. The Frenchman got the job done 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(3) two years ago in Miami and prevailed 7-5, 6-4 a few months later on the grass courts of Antalya. This has always been Mannarino’s best surfaces and he is up to his usual grass-court tricks in Stuttgart with defeats of Thiemo De Bakker, Fernando Verdasco, and David Goffin. Coric’s especially difficult quarterfinal will only give the world No. 44 an additional boost in his effort for what would not really be much of an upset on the slick stuff.

Pick: Mannarino in 3

[polldaddy poll=10343112]