Day three in Basel should see no shortage of entertaining action, with eight matches in store at the Swiss Indoors. Three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, who takes on Pablo Cuevas, and former-world #3 Marin Cilic are amongst those set to take to the court and we here at LWOT are offering our predictions for all eight matches. But who will come out on top?
Swiss Indoors Day Three Predictions
Frances Tiafoe vs Dan Evans
Head-to-head: Evans 2-0 Tiafoe
Frances Tiafoe’s season started promisingly with an impressive run to the quarterfinals at the Australian Open. But the American has failed to kick on from there and currently finds himself hovering on the edge of the top 50 at world #48. Dan Evans, meanwhile, has had a superb season and is currently the top-ranked Briton in the men’s game with top 40 finish within his grasp. He may well feel confident heading into this clash, having beaten Tiafoe in both their previous meetings. The quick court surface in Basel should also aid his cause. Tiafoe may have the quality to make a match of this, but expect Evans’ court-craft to give him the decisive edge.
Prediction: Evans in 3
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Henri Laaksonen vs Jan-Lennard Struff
Head-to-head: first meeting
Both Henri Laaksonen and Jan-Lennard Struff have put together quietly impressive seasons. Laaksonen had his share of disciplinary problems early in his career, notably earning severe criticism from Wawrinka ahead of a Davis Cup tie. But for the most part he has put that behind him and this season he has picked up six wins at tour-level, reaching the second round at both the Australian Open and Roland Garros. And he played well to beat Benoit Paire 6-3 7-5 in the first round in Basel, even if the Frenchman was not at his most focused.
Struff, meanwhile, may remain arguably the best player on tour never to have reached a final, but he did make the fourth round in Paris and his dominant 6-4 6-2 victory over Serbian young gun Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round was his 31st of the year at tour-level. Both men have plenty of power and so there should be winners aplenty in this one. But where both can struggle is in reining that power in. Struff, however, has had considerably more success doing that over the course of his career.
Prediction: Struff in 3
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Roger Federer vs Radu Albot
Head-to-head: Federer 1-0 Albot
Defending champion Roger Federer made a sharp start to his Swiss Indoors campaign, hammering Peter Gojowczyk for the loss of only three games. Backed to the hilt, perhaps even more so than usual, by the crowd at the Jakobshalle, Federer clearly enjoys the conditions in Basel, where he has been crowned champion nine times and is the heavy favourite for title number ten. Radu Albot did, however, give the Swiss star pause in their only previous meeting at the Miami Open earlier this year.
For much of that match, the Moldovan threatened what would have been a seismic upset, but fell just short. However with the greatest of respect to Albot, the competitiveness of that match was more to do with Federer’s below-par performance than how well Albot played, although he was impressive. But he no weapons with which he could really hurt Federer and there are few, if any players, who can live with him only by defending, especially on a fast indoor hard court.
Prediction: Federer in 2
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Alex De Minaur vs Taylor Fritz
Head-to-head: De Minaur 3-0 Fritz
Neither Alex De Minaur nor Taylor Fritz arrived in Basel in particularly impressive form, but both will now surely view a deep run as a more than achievable goal. Fritz, in particular, had been floundering since making back-to-back finals in Atlanta and Los Cabos. But he bounced back in impressive fashion in the first round in Basel, beating third seed and Shanghai Masters finalist Alexander Zverev in straight-sets.
De Minaur, meanwhile, beat Fritz in the final in Atlanta and also won the title in Chengdu, but has otherwise been below par since Wimbledon. The Australian opened his campaign with a 6-1 7-5 win over the Bolivian qualifier Hugo Dellien. And he is surely the favourite here, having beaten Fritz in all three of their previous meetings. The quick conditions at the Swiss Indoors appear to suit him and he should emerge victorious once again.
Prediction: De Minaur in 3
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