Roger Federer will finally be back in action when he takes the court against Mischa Zverev during second-round action in Stuttgart on Wednesday afternoon. Lucas Pouille is also kicking off his campaign, as he faces wild card Rudolf Molleker.
(1) Roger Federer vs. Mischa Zverev
Federer’s decision to skip the 2017 clay-court swing worked out just about perfectly; he lifted the trophy in Halle and then won Wimbledon. The only thing that did not go as planned was his Stuttgart opener, which he lost to Tommy Haas 2-6, 7-6(8), 6-4. After sitting out the clay season once again, Federer hopes to avoid the same fate at the Mercedes Cup when he goes up against Zverev on Wednesday. The head-to-head series stands at 5-0 in favor of the 36-year-old Swiss, who is 12-0 lifetime in total sets at Zverev’s expense–including three victories on grass (6-0, 6-0 at the 2013 Halle event, 7-6(4), 6-4 at the same tournament last year, and 7-6(3), 6-4, 6-4 a couple of weeks later at Wimbledon).
Zverev earned himself another shot at Federer thanks to a 7-6(5), 6-3 victory over Mikhail Youzhny on Monday. The 54th-ranked German is still just 10-16 this year, but he actually fared decently well on clay–his worst surface. He reached the third round in Monte-Carlo and did the same at the French Open, succumbing to Kevin Anderson in a fourth-set tiebreaker. Zverev’s game works perfectly on grass, so he may be effective enough to take advantage of Federer’s rust by being at least somewhat competitive in each set.
Pick: Federer in 2 losing 8-10 games
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(WC) Rudolf Molleker vs. (2) Lucas Pouille
In all five of his appearances at events worth less than 1000 points so far in 2018, Pouille has either reached the final (one title, two runner-up finishes) or lost his opening match. The 17th-ranked Frenchman has been more in the middle of late, with a second-round exit from Rome (beat Andreas Seppi, lost to Kyle Edmund) and a third-round performance at Roland Garros (fell to Karen Khachanov in straight sets). If he is reverts back to his all-or-nothing ways this week, “all” may be more likely. Pouille is the defending champion in Stuttgart and he is on the opposite side of the draw from Federer as the No. 2 seed.
Up first for Pouille on Wednesday is Molleker, whom he has obviously never faced. The German is just 17 years old, registers at 303rd in the world, and is playing in the main draw of an ATP-level tournament for the second time in his career. He qualified last season on the red clay of Hamburg, ultimately falling to Khachanov 6-4, 6-3. Molleker got a wild card into this event and capitalized on his opportunity by beating Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3 on Monday. He is a prized prospect who will not be taken lightly, so Pouille will likely tested but not necessarily caught off guard by the youngster’s competitiveness.
Pick: Pouille in 3
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