Sinner vs. Bublik, Cobolli vs. Shapovalov

Second-round competition in Halle wraps up with a marquee matchup between top seed Jannik Sinner and Alexander Bublik. Flavio Cobolli and Denis Shapovalov are also aiming for a place in the quarterfinals.

(1) Jannik Sinner vs. Alexander Bublik

Sinner and Bublik will be doing battle for the second time at the Terra Wortmann Open and for the second time in three weeks when they clash in round two on Thursday afternoon. Sinner advanced to the 2023 Halle semis via retirement while leading 7-5, 2-0 and he extended his overall lead in this head-to-head series to 4-1 with a recent 6-1, 7-5, 6-0 victory in the quarterfinals of the French Open.

It’s safe to say that Roland Garros was notable for both guys. Bublik’s run on his least favorite surface was downright shocking, while Sinner reached the final and had three championship points before falling to Carlos Alcaraz. The top-ranked Italian showed no signs of a virtual hangover while defeating Yannick Hanfmann 7-5, 6-3 on Tuesday. Bublik, who beat Alexandre Muller 6-4, 6-4 in the opening round, is much more dangerous on grass than he is on clay–so the 45th-ranked Kazakh should be more competitive than he was in Paris. Still, this will likely be another straight-set win for Sinner.

Pick: Sinner in 2

Denis Shapovalov vs. Flavio Cobolli

Outside of the top 10, Cobolli is the hottest player on tour right now. The 24th-ranked Italian captured two titles during the clay-court swing (Bucharest, Hamburg) and fared relatively well in Paris (lost to Alexander Zverev in the third round). Cobolli faced a tough draw to begin his grass season but fought past Joao Fonseca 5-7, 7-6(3), 7-6(8) in an absolute thriller on Tuesday afternoon.

Up next for the 23-year-old is a first-ever meeting with Shapovalov, who also advanced in a third-set tiebreaker–beating Ugo Humbert 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(4). The 26-year-old Canadian is a former Wimbledon semifinalist (2021), but since that result he is just 9-11 on grass over the past four seasons. This version of Shapovalov is simply inconsistent to the max, and any lapses on serve can be crippling on this surface. Cobolli is the more solid and confident player right now.

Pick: Cobolli in 3