The Canadian #3 seed will make his debut at the ATP Bett1Hulks Championships Cologne at the Lanxess Arena, squaring off with a familiar foe in Gilles Simon, who he played just a few weeks ago at the French Open. We will also preview and predict the rest of day 4 action from the Bett1 Hulks Championship.
ATP Cologne Day 4 Predictions
Pierre Hugues Herbert vs Jannik Sinner
The Frenchman is once again playing in Cologne for both singles and doubles and is aiming to potentially win the double. He is coming off a three-set win over American Tennys Sandgren, and will be looking to improve on his result last week when he lost in the first round to Radu Albot. Sinner was ruthless in his first match on German soil, dispatching James Duckworth in straight sets. Look for the young Italian to come through in this match as I feel he has too many weapons for Herbert to handle and I think personally he is focusing more on doubles than singles.
Prediction Sinner in 2
Oscar Otte vs Diego Schwartzman
Oscar Otte is also playing in Cologne for the second week in a row and had to go through qualifying once again. He had an impressive win over Dennis Novak, who made the final eight last week. This will be Schwartzman’s first match since losing to Rafael Nadal in the semifinals of the French Open, so it will be interesting to see if the long layoff will help or hurt him. At the end of the day, Schwartzman has a lot of firepower even for his small stature so look for the Argentine to get the win.
Prediction Schwartzman in 2
Jan-Lennard Struff vs Yoshito Nishioka
The German made up for his first-round upset last week by beating Marco Cecchinato in his first match and did it quite convincingly, so this should be a tough test for the Japanese player. Nishioka is coming off a big win as well in his first-round match, sending the Brit Kyle Edmund packing in straight sets as well. Look for the German to pull this one out due to the fact he has a lot more weapons at his disposal.
Prediction Struff in 2
Denis Shapovalov vs Gilles Simon
Shapovalov will be playing Gilles Simon in a rematch of the French Open first round, when Shapovalov won in straight sets. He is coming off a semifinal appearance at the St Petersburg Open and is in great form, playing for a spot at the ATP Finals in London. Simon was able to beat Jordan Thompson in straight sets in round one but seems to be mentally fragile which could prove costly. I feel the Canadian has too much firepower and weapons for the Frenchman to handle.
Prediction Shapovalov in 2
Main Photo from Getty
