10sBalls Shares Ricky’s Picks For The Stuttgart and ‘s-Hertogenbosch Finals: Thiem vs. Kohlschreiber, Muller vs. Mahut

Written by: on 11th June 2016
10sBalls Shares Ricky's Picks For The Stuttgart and 's-Hertogenbosch Finals: Thiem vs. Kohlschreiber, Muller vs. Mahut  |
By Ricky Dimon

One day after saving two match points to upset Roger Federer, Dominic Thiem will be looking for his first-ever title on grass when he faces Philipp Kohlschreiber on Sunday in Stuttgart. In the ‘s-Hertogenbosch final , meanwhile, Nicolas Mahut is aiming for his third title in the last four seasons at the expense of Gilles Muller.

Ricky previews the action and makes his predictions.

Stuttgart: (3) Dominic Thiem vs. (7) Philipp Kohlschreiber

It will be a showdown between doubles partners–both at the Mercedes Cup and next week in Halle–when Thiem and Kohlschreiber battle for the title on Sunday. They have squared off on two previous occasions, with Kohlschreiber leading the head-to-head series 2-0. The world No. 26 prevailed 6-0, 7-6(6) on the clay courts of Kitzbuhel last season and 7-6(7), 4-6, 7-6(4) again on clay in the recent Munich final.

Thiem’s appearance in his ninth career ATP final may be the most surprising of all–but not because he has been lacking form. Not only is grass the Austrian’s least favorite surface, but he is also coming right off a semifinal run at Roland Garros and he had to face Roger Federer in Saturday’s Stuttgart semis. Federer twice came within one point of victory, but Thiem roared back for a 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-4 upset. The 22-year-old preceded that result by taking out Sam Groth and Mikhail Youzhny.

Kohlschreiber is through to his 15th career ATP final and second of the season following straight-set victories this week over Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Denis Kudla, Radek Stepanek, and Juan Martin Del Potro. The German is an even 7-7 lifetime in title matches and he sports a solid 24-11 record for the 2016 campaign.

Grass is a surface that favors Kohlschreiber, but Thiem’s confidence on the slick stuff has to be soaring in the wake of Saturday’s performance and he will eager to avenge his recent defeats at the hands of his doubles partner.

Pick: Thiem in 3

‘s-Hertogenbosch: (7) Gilles Muller vs. (8) Nicolas Mahut

Heading into Sunday, the six previous encounters between Muller and Mahut have all come at either the Futures or Challenger levels. Now the two veterans find themselves battling for an ATP title.

Prior to this same event in 2013, Mahut had zero such titles in his career. At 32 years old, the Frenchman finally found the winners circle, after which he lifted the Newport trophy a few weeks later and triumphed again in ‘s-Hertogenbosch in 2015. Clearly a grass-court specialist, Mahut–who recently ascended to the No. 1 world ranking in doubles–has advanced to another final with wins this week over Lukas Lacko, Paul-Henri Mathieu, Bernard Tomic, and Sam Querrey.

At 33 years old and still saddled with zero ATP titles in three final appearances, Muller will be hoping to take a page out of his opponent’s book. In the twilight of a career that once saw the Luxembourgian peak at 34th in the rankings and currently has him at 44th, he has to be considered one of the best players to have never captured a title. Muller is now one win away–again–thanks to scalps of Robin Haase, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, David Ferrer, and Ivo Karlovic.

This has to be considered Muller’s best chance to get over the hump, as his three previous finals have all come against Grand Slam singles winners. He fell to Lleyton Hewitt 12 years ago in Washington, D.C., to Andre Agassi in Los Angeles one season later, and to Andy Roddick at the 2013 Atlanta event. That being said, facing Mahut in ‘s-Hertogenbosch is a very difficult proposition and the No. 7 seed will undoubtedly be feeling a ton of pressure.

Pick: Mahut in 3

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

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