An excellent second day at the ATP Queen’s Club Championships saw Sir Andy Murray return triumphantly to grass court tennis with a straight sets win over Benoit Paire. It was an exciting day all round for the home crowd as four British players have now won a match at Queen’s for the first time since 2005. Day 3 of the championships promises plenty more thrilling matches, with some enticing match-ups coming our way. We will be making our predictions across the days action on who will be advancing to the next round.
ATP Queen’s Club Championships Day 3 Predictions
Alex De Minaur vs John Millman
Head-to-head: De Minaur 2 – 0 Millman
This match promises lots of intense rallies, with a small amount of free points for either player. John Millman did an exceptional job of taking down Reilly Opelka in the first round, which would’ve been a big confidence boost. Alex De Minaur struggled through his opening match against Laslo Djere, and is still not managing to find his best tennis. Millman may go in looking the stronger, but De Minaur has dominated their only two meetings.
If this was on a hard court, De Minaur would be the comfortable favourite. However, these two have never met on grass, and this will be a good contest. Millman has proven himself on grass plenty of times and has made some great runs at Wimbledon. De Minaur hasn’t quite shown this yet on the surface and his form isn’t great, so this could be Millman’s for the taking. Expect a close battle, but the older Aussie should win this one.
Prediction: Millman in 3
Alexander Bublik vs Jack Draper
Head-to-head: First meeting
This makes for a fascinating encounter. Up and coming Brit Jack Draper secured a fantastic win over third seed Jannik Sinner, which was also his first ever victory at ATP Tour level. His stunning left-handed game looks like it’ll make him a real force in the future, especially on this surface. Bublik did a great job of beating Jeremy Chardy in the previous round, but this will be a difficult task. The two did meet at qualifying for this tournament in 2019 which Bublik won in three sets, though Draper was only 17 at the time.
Draper’s serve is a real weapon already, and once he got it going against Sinner it was clear how tough it is to defend against. His groundstrokes are looking really solid and he can hit winners off both wings. Bublik is also equipped with a great serve and some wonderful shots in his arsenal, so it will be interesting to see how the pair face off. It would be highly possible for this match to go the distance and both players have a great chance, but Draper’s game on this surface suggests he will have the edge.
Prediction: Draper in 3
Fabio Fognini vs Marin Cilic
Head-to-head: Cilic 3 – 1 Fognini
Marin Cilic was looking very dominant against Sebastian Ofner before he found himself on the brink of being knocked out. He managed to sort it out in the final set tiebreak and secure the match, but it was tight. Fognini had a good battle with Yen-Hsun Lu which he won in straight sets, but the sets were pretty competitive. Neither player has exactly stood out so far, so there’s not a clear favorite by any means.
Cilic leads the head-to-head pretty comfortably, but they’ve never played on grass. Cilic definitely prefers the surface to Fognini, and his win last week in Stuttgart shows he is in good form on the grass right now, despite his dip against Ofner. Fognini brings so much to the court no matter what surface, and he’ll definitely cause some problems for Cilic. The Croat will still go in as the slight favorite due to his experience and prowess in grass, but it will be close.
Prediction: Cilic in 3
Aslan Karatsev vs Cameron Norrie
Head-to-head: First meeting
Both players came through tough battles to advance to the second round. Aslan Karatsev appeared in control in the first set against Alejandro Tabilo, but lost a run of games and lost the set, forcing him to come back from behind to win. Once he was in control though, he looked very strong. His power game should translate well to the grass, and it’ll be interesting to see where he goes from here.
Cameron Norrie got his revenge over Albert Ramos-Vinolas after to losing to him in the Estoril final. It was another solid performance from the Brit, who continues to impress this season. He plays very smart tennis and loves to move his opponents around the court, so it’ll be interesting to see how this fairs up against the powerful Karatsev. Both players have the ability to cause trouble to each other, and it’s likely to go the distance because of this. It will depend on who can get on top of the other in the rallies, but the Russian’s power should be enough to win this one.
Prediction: Karatsev in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
