Although home hope and all-time great Roger Federer made an earlier than expected exit, losing in the second round, there should be plenty of entertaining tennis still to come at the ATP Geneva Open. There are seven matches scheduled for day four in Switzerland and, as ever, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match, including Marco Cecchinato vs Denis Shapovalov. But who will reach the quarterfinals?
ATP Geneva Open Day 4 Predictions
Casper Ruud vs Tennys Sandgren
Head-to-head: Ruud 1-0 Sandgren
Both of these men have achieved some impressive results since they first met in the second round of qualifying in Auckland three years ago. Tennys Sandgren has won the title at that event and made two quarterfinals at the Australian Open. Casper Ruud, meanwhile, has established himself as a force to be reckoned with on the ATP Tour. The Norwegian has reached three Masters semifinals, including in Monte Carlo and Madrid this season, in the last 12 months.
His efforts have earned him a place in the top 20 and he comes into this match as the third seed and the heavy favourite as a result. It has been a particularly productive spell on the clay for him, with Ruud improving his record for the year to an impressive 16-6. That is rather better than Sandgren’s 3-5. The American did perform well in beating Salvatore Caruso 6-3 6-4, but the fast-rising Ruud should have too much power and accuracy from the baseline for him to contend with.
Prediction: Ruud in 2
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Dominic Stephan Stricker vs Marton Fucsovics
Head-to-head: first meeting
Somewhat unsurprisingly, this will be the first meeting between the 18-year-old wildcard Dominic Stephan Stricker and Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics. But the Swiss teenager will no doubt be full of confidence after his thrilling 7-6 6-1 upset win over former-world #3 Marin Cilic. The Croatian was not at his best in that match, as he has not been for some time, but Stricker deserves immense credit nonetheless, particularly for the manner in which he saw out the victory in the second set.
However, it is hard to see him getting the better of Fucsovics. The Hungarian has had a broadly impressive season, highlighted by his run to the final in Rotterdam, and has won this tournament before. He may not have set the world alight in his 7-5 7-5 first-round win over Henri Laaksonen, but it was a solid and professional performance from the Hungarian. His formidable weight of shot, particularly off the forehand side, should give him a decisive edge here.
Prediction: Fucsovics in 2
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Ilya Ivashka vs Grigor Dimitrov
Head-to-head: first meeting
This looks like a tough draw for Grigor Dimitrov. As has typically been the case throughout his career, the Bulgarian has performed indifferently so far during the clay-court swing, with his best showing a run to the third round in Monte Carlo, where he lost 1-6 1-6 to Rafael Nadal. Ilya Ivashka has also played the great Spaniard in recent weeks, but gave a rather better account of himself before ultimately succumbing in three sets in the first round in Barcelona.
But he bounced back from that disappointment by reaching the semifinals at the ATP Bavarian International, upsetting Alexander Zverev en route, and he has looked sharp so far in Geneva, coming through the qualifying with straight-sets wins over Li Hanwen and Mackenzie McDonald. He backed that up by beating Fernando Verdasco 7-6 6-4 and his powerful, flat groundstrokes seem likely to trouble Dimitrov. Particularly because the Bulgarian can struggle to time his backhand.
Prediction: Ivashka in 3
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