The ATP Bastad quarterfinal matches are upon us, with the top two seeds in action after coming through their opening encounters. Some enticing matchups are taking place as the remaining eight will battle for a spot in the semifinals. We will be making our predictions on who will be making the final four.
ATP Bastad Quarterfinals Predictions
Yannick Hanfmann vs Arthur Rinderknech
Head-to-head: Rinderknech 1 – 0 Hanfmann
Arthur Rinderknech is having an excellent tournament having come through the qualifiers. Beating John Millman in the round of 16, it’s been an impressive run. Yannick Hanfmann has also beaten some great opponents, including the dangerous Thiago Monteiro and Jiri Vesely without dropping a set.
Both players are very similar in ranking, and it’s a tough one to call. Rinderknech has won their only meeting so far, although this was on grass earlier this year. Hanfmann is the stronger player on clay, and the efforts of coming though qualifying and a tough battle with Millman are likely to catch up with Rinderknech here. Expect a good battle which Hanfmann should win.
Prediction: Hanfmann in 3
Capser Ruud vs Henri Laaksonen
Head-to-head: First meeting
Casper Ruud is one of the top clay court players in the world and this is a tournament he can certainly win. The first seed blitzed his way through his first match against Holger Rune, which wasn’t much of a test. However, it certainly won’t be as easy here. Laaksonen has had a fantastic week, coming through qualifying and beating Italian star Lorenzo Musetti.
Ruud will definitely see this a very winnable match, but Laaksonen won’t make it easy. Ruud’s all court game makes him a highly effective player on the clay and will more than likely win this pretty comfortably, but there will be resistance along the way.
Prediction: Ruud in 3
Roberto Carballes Baena vs Norbert Gombos
Head-to-head: First meeting
Norbert Gombos has had some great results this week, taking out the eighth seed Ruusuvuori and clay court veteran Pablo Cuevas. He now has the task of taking on another clay court veteran in Carballes Baena. The Spaniard veteran took down the explosive Fabio Fognini and showed how effective he still is on this surface.
This should be a great battle. Both players are playing with plenty of confidence and will believe they cant advance to the semifinals here. Carballes Baena is no doubt the more experienced of the two, especially on clay, and will go in as the favourite as a result of this. Though the Spaniard is the favourite, it should be close.
Prediction: Carballes Baena in 3
Cristian Garin vs Federico Coria
Head-to-head: Garin 1 – 0 Coria
Federico Coria has had a solid tournament so far, taking down former French Open semifinalist Marco Cecchinato. Coria has always played excellent tennis on the clay, but he’s up against it here. Garin is the second seed here and is one of the better clay court players on the tour. He will be eyeing up the title here, especially with a potential meeting with Casper Ruud in the final.
Garin’s game is proving very tough for many top players on clay, and he even did very well at Wimbledon this year. Coria will certainly play his part and make things tough, but it should be a fairly comfortable win for Garin.
Prediction: Garin in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
