Damien Kayat previews selected quarter-final matches from the ATP Tour’s Munich Open taking place this Friday.
Phillip Kohlschrieber 8/10 | Roberto Bautista Agut 19/20
It’s always thrilling to see a quarterfinal where the seeds have conquered. It usually entails an excellent match between two formidable entities. I actually thought that Kohlschrieber may have been susceptible to Mischa Zverev, but he easily dismantled the German 6-2, 6-3. He had already overcome Ivo Karlovic in his opening match. Kohlschrieber has had a fairly indifferent year, but that Indian Wells quarterfinal appearance indicated that he may be closer to his best. Monte Carlo seemed to consolidate the fact that the German had finally found his footing. He beat both Tennys Sandgren and Ramos-Vinolas and has that innate ability to switch on for various portions of the season.
Bautista Agut has had a terrific year, with two victories already on the tour. The victory in Auckland could be put down to early season tentativeness on the part of others. But that victory in Dubai cemented his status as a powerful tour contender. He will be glad that his quarterfinal opponent isn’t David Goffin this week: Goffin accounted for the demise of Agut in Monte Carlo and Barcelona. But that quarterfinal appearance in Barcelona highlighted that Bautista Agut has been able to translate that hardcourt form into clay-court consistency.
Bautista Agut leads the head-to-head between the two 2-1. The Spaniard has won the last two matches, though their last meeting came in Moscow in 2015. I just have a feeling that the durable German may have a semi-final run in him this week. As I noted earlier, he has the ability to go on runs that come from the middle of nowhere. In front of a strong partisan crowd he may be able to conquer Agut this week.
Marten Fucsovics 9/10 | Maximillian Marterer 17/20
I certainly have my up’s and down’s, but I do feel particularly proud for calling that Marterer-Schwartzmann upset. The young German soundly beat the Argentine 6-4, 6-3, off the back of defeating Dustin Brown in the opening match. Marterer is one of those players- much like Shapovalov- who has the ability to cause major upsets on his day. Issues of consistency have largely seen him toil away on the Challenger Tour. But he almost beat Dimitrov in Miami in a performance that really showed the unharnessed potential that he possesses. A Round of 16 performance in Budapest just before this showed some more signs of improvement.
Hungarian Fucsovics has also found most of his success in the Challenger arena. He reached the semi-finals in the Irving Challenger Series, Budapest Challenger event, as well as the Canberra Challenger event. 26 year-old Fucsovics did have that tremendous run in Melbourne, where he overcame the likes of Sam Querrey and Nicklas Kicker en route to a Round of 16 loss to eventual champion Roger Federer. He has beaten Cecchinato and Pella and will be looking to avenge a defeat to the German from not too long ago.
While the players share the spoils 1-1 in the head-to-head stakes, it is Marterer who drew the last blow. Marterer beat Fucsovics in Miami and will feel confident of repeating the dose in front of an adoring home crowd.
Written by Damien Kayat for @Hollywoodbets.net
