The Munich clay is heating up as we move into the quarterfinal stage, and Friday’s slate offers a good contrast between established stars and the next generation. Today we’ll cover a quick preview and our betting predictions for Alexander Zverev vs. Francisco Cerundolo and Joao Fonseca vs. Ben Shelton.
Zverev vs Cerundolo
The headliner for local fans is undoubtedly Alexander Zverev, who continues his quest for a fourth title at the MTTC Iphitos. Zverev looked sharp in his previous round, dismissing Gabriel Diallo with clinical efficiency, losing only three games in the process. He faces Francisco Cerundolo, a tricky opponent and clay-court specialist who dismantled Botic van de Zandschulp to get here.
While Zverev holds the edge in their head-to-head history (especially their last few meetings) and the benefit of home-court advantage, Cerundolo’s ability to grind out long rallies on this surface means the German will have to maintain his high first-serve percentage to avoid a physical battle.
Predictions: Cerundolo is a good clay court player, but so is an in-form Zverev and he’s usually good playing on home soil. It won’t be a crushing win but I’ll go with the World no 3 to win in two sets at odds around 2.00 (+100).
Fonseca vs. Ben Shelton
The other matchup on everyone’s radar is the first-ever meeting between Joao Fonseca and Ben Shelton.
Fonseca, the 19-year-old Brazilian sensation, has been the talk of the tour this week after dominant straight-set wins over Alejandro Tabilo and Arthur Rinderknech. He plays a fearless brand of tennis that seems perfectly suited for the slightly quicker conditions in Munich. Following some dip in form earlier, Fonseca has looked very consistent lately and playing with confidence again.
Across the net, Shelton is looking to go one step further than his runner-up finish here last year. Though the American’s game is often defined by his explosive serve and forehand, he has shown improvement in his sliding and point construction on dirt. The American started with a 7-6, 3-6, 6-3 win over Emilio Nava before eventually getting past Alexander Blockx 6-4, 7-6.
Predictions: Fonseca is the bookies favorite today against the higer ranked Shelton and it all comes down to form. Shelton’s game is less convincing at the moment and he fought hard to get to the quarters. If Fonseca can handle the Shelton serve, I think he will get through this test and progress to the semi’s.