Munich Open 2023 Day 5: Men's singles predictions ft. Holger Rune vs Cristian Garin

The fifth day of main draw action at the Munich Open on Friday will feature a second-round match carried over from the previous day and all four quarterfinals.

On Thursday, the likes of Taylor Fritz and Holger Rune sailed through to the next round, respectively, beating Marton Fucsovics and Yannick Hanfmann. However, third seed Alexander Zverev wasn't so lucky, as the German went down to Christopher O'Connell in straight sets.

So, without further ado, here's a look at how the following three matches on Friday at the Munich Open could pan out.

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#1 Christopher O'Connell vs Flavio Cobolli

Christopher O'Connell

Christopher O'Connell takes on Italian qualifier Flavio Cobolli for a place in the last four at the Munich Open.

World No. 82 O'Connell dumped out Alexander Zverev in straight sets to improve to 7-7 on the season. The Australian opened his campaign against Frenchman Ugo Humbert and is yet to drop a set in two matches this week. Meanwhile, the 208th-ranked Cobolli is 3-1 in 2023 following his win over Oscar Otte. He beat Jordan Thompson in the first round.

The two players haven't met before, but O'Connell should take this one.

Prediction: O'Connell in straight sets

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#2 Holger Rune (Munich top seed) vs Cristian Garin

Cristian Garin

Top seed Holger Rune takes on Chile's Cristian Garin in the Munich semifinals as he seeks to win his first title of the year.

The seventh-ranked Rune opened his campaign with a hard-fought three-set win over Germany's Yannick Hanfmann to improve to 18-8 on the season. In the process, he returned to winning ways following a tough loss in the Monte-Carlo final last week.

Meanwhile, World No. 86 Garin dumped out sixth seed Lorenzo Sonego in straight sets for his 12th win in 20 matches this year. Earlier, he beat qualifier Marko Topo to open his campaign.

Rune has won both his meetings with Garin, including the pair's only clash on clay, and should triumph again.

Prediction: Rune in straight sets

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#3 Marcos Giron vs Botic van de Zandschulp

Botic van de Zandschulp

Unseeded American Marcos Giron takes on fourth seed Botic van de Zandschulp in the Munich quarterfinals.

World No. 68 Giron improved to 11-9 in 2023 after beating Alexander Ritschard, while the 29th-ranked Zandschulp beat Aslan Karatsev for the loss of just two games to also improve to 11-9 on the year.

Giron has taken the pair's two previous meetings, but Zandschulp could take this one.

Prediction: Zandschulp in three sets