It’s quarter finals day at the ATP Stuttgart and s-Hertogenbosch tournaments and it’s been a good week so far for seeded players at Stuttgart with six of the eight quarter finalists being seeded. Top-seed Federer came from a set down to beat the unseeded Mischa Zverev and he faces another unseeded player today, Pella from Argentina. Federer won their only match in straight sets at Wimbledon back in 2016 and with a competitive match and win under his belt I expect Federer will win this one in similar fashion.

Second seed and reigning champion Pouille faces veteran Istomin for the first time and third seed Berdych faces seventh seed Raonic for the ninth time on the ATP Tour. Raonic leads the head-to-head 5-3, this is their first meeting on grass and it should be a close encounter with both players excelling on the surface during their careers. Fourth seed Kyrgios (advised 10/1) faces eighth seed and 2017 finalist Lopez and the head-to-head currently stands at two wins each. Kyrgios won the last two at the Hopman Cup this year in straight sets and at Wimbledon back in 2016 in four sets while Lopez won at the Rome Masters 1000 Series and Kuala Lumpar both in 2015.

At s-Hertogenbosch there have been more upsets and less seeds making it to the quarter finals so far. Top seed Mannarino was beaten by compatriot Chardy (advised 14/1) yesterday and second seed Gasquet faces NextGen star and fifth seed Tsitsipas today. Tsitsipas has taken to the grass well battling hard to win both his matches from a set down and I expect he will be up against it again today against a far more formidable opponent in veteran Gasquet. The only other seed remaining in the tournament is fourth seed Verdasco and he faces a tough one today against a resurgent Tomic (13/16). The Aussie bad boy is a confident player on grass, he leads the head-to-head 5-1 and he won both their matches on grass, which were there last two meetings at Queens and Wimbledon back in 2016.

The other two quarter finals are between unseeded players, Chardy faces Wild Card Macdonald and two veterans of the ATP Tour Ebden and Copil will fight it out for the other semi-final spot.

Selections:

s-Hertogenbosch