The ATP Cologne Indoors is entering the home stretch, with the top two seeds still in contention for the title in Germany ahead of semifinals day. But will they live up to their billing by reaching the final or will their opponents crash the party?<\/p>\n
Head to head:<\/strong> Zverev 1-0 Davidovich Fokina<\/p>\n Not even six weeks after blasting him off the court in a 6-2 6-2 6-1 win at the US Open, Alexander Zverev will attempt to halt Alejandro Davidovich Fokina<\/a> in his tracks once again at the ATP Cologne Indoors. In what was the exception rather than the rule during his run to the final in New York, Zverev\u2019s serve was entirely reliable and almost unplayable. The Spaniard never worked out how to hurt Zverev in that match and the world #7 will be hoping for a repeat on home turf.<\/p>\n So far this week, Zverev\u2019s serving has, for the most part, been excellent. Crucially, he has hit just three double faults, which equates to less than one every set. He may be concerned about the fact that Lloyd Harris converted 50% of his break points in the quarterfinals, however, with the South African not as effective a returner as Davidovich Fokina. Fortunately for the German, Davidovich Fokina\u2019s serve is not nearly as potent as his return game.<\/p>\n In fact, the 21-year-old, who will be playing in his second semifinal at this level, won the point more often against his opponent\u2019s serve (51.7%) than he did behind his own (50.6%) during his three-set win over Dennis Novak in the quarterfinals. In the second set, he broke twice, but failed to hold serve once. Whilst that speaks in part to the effectiveness of his return game, it also demonstrates his weakness behind his serve. A weakness that a player of Zverev\u2019s calibre will surely punish.<\/p>\n Prediction: Zverev in 2
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