In six career sets against one another, Roger Federer and Nick Kyrgios have played six tiebreakers. Will the trend continue during semifinal action in Stuttgart on Saturday? Milos Raonic and Lucas Pouille are also aiming for a spot in the title match.
(1) Roger Federer vs. (4) Nick Kyrgios
Federer and Kyrgios will be squaring off for the third time in their careers when they clash in the Mercedes Cup semifinals on Saturday. The head-to-head history could not be more competitive; they have split their two previous encounters and every single one of their six contested sets has required a tiebreaker. Kyrgios scored a 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 7-6(12) upset at the 2015 Madrid Masters, while Federer prevailed 7-6(9), 6-7(9), 7-6(5) last season in Miami.
Despite extended layoffs for both players, they managed to survived the early stages in Stuttgart and set up a third career showdown. Federer fell to Juan Martin Del Potro in the Indian Wells final, lost his Miami opener against Thanasi Kokkinakis, and then once again skipped the clay-court swing. The 36-year-old is back in the win column with defeats of Mischa Zverev (3-6, 6-4, 6-2) and Guido Pella (6-4, 6-4), and he will be back at No. 1 in the world if he emerges victorious on Friday. Kyrgios had not played a singles match since mid-April due to an elbow injury, but he punched his ticket to the last eight thanks to three-set defeats of Maximilian Marterer and Feliciano Lopez. Both results are solid ones for the 24th-ranked Aussie, who fired 20 aces in each match. Kyrgios’ serve should make him competitive on yet another occasions against Federer, but the Swiss will likely avoid the kind of careless mistakes that could creep into his opponent’s game when the pressure mounts.
Pick: Federer in 3
[polldaddy poll=10032122]
(7) Milos Raonic vs. (2) Lucas Pouille
Speaking of layoffs, Raonic had gone exactly one month without taking the match court until he defeated Mirza Basic 7-6(8), 6-2 in the Stuttgart first round. The Canadian pulled the plug on his clay-court swing due to a knee injury following consecutive third-round performances in Monte-Carlo and Madrid. Raonic followed up his victory over Basic by beating Marton Fucsovics and Tomas Berdych–also in straight sets. Although he currently registers at 35th in the world, Raonic is expect to reach No. 32 even if he loses on Friday and his grass-court points from recent seasons should have him in line for a Wimbledon seed.
Up next for the former world No. 3 on Saturday is a third career contest against Pouille. Raonic is sweeping the head-to-head series 2-0, with a pair of 2016 straight-set wins in Brisbane and at the Australian Open. Fast forward two years, though, and Pouille is squarely in his prime with a ranking of 17th and five career ATP titles under his belt. A consistently inconsistent performer, Pouille either reached the final or lost his opening match at all five of his events worth less than 1000 points in 2018. The streak will hit six if the Frenchman gets the best of Raonic. That is easier said than done–especially on grass–and Raonic’s serve will likely be too big as long as his body is up for at least one more match this week.
Pick: Raonic in 3
[polldaddy poll=10032123]
Leave a Reply