The semifinals of the ATP Stockholm Open are here! It’s been an exciting week of tennis in Stockholm and the action continues on Friday with two exciting semifinals to come. Who will win and who will fall short? Read on for my best guesses.
ATP Stockholm Open Semifinal Predictions
Tommy Paul vs Frances Tiafoe
Head to Head: 3-0 Tiafoe
Tommy Paul played with fantastic controlled aggression in his quarterfinal victory over Andy Murray. In addition to winning 83% of his first-serve points, Paul hit with good depth and pace without spraying too many unforced errors. Frances Tiafoe pulled off a masterful comeback win in the quarterfinals against Dan Evans, winning 1-6, 6-1, 6-1. Tiafoe’s variety and touch are world-class and he held Evans to 34% of points won on his second serve.
Tiafoe leads the head to head 3-0, including a 2-0 record on hard courts. Paul will look to use his forehand to control the baseline, but he loses focus too often, which has prevented him from his too high in the rankings. Tiafoe is playing the tennis of his life, blasting serves, crushing his groundstrokes, but while still keeping opponents off-balance with the variety of shots in his arsenal. I don’t see Tiafoe losing in his current form. Tiafoe will be in the final.
Prediction: Tiafoe in 3
Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Denis Shapovalov
Head to Head: tied 3-3
Felix Auger-Aliassime is completely locked in this week, as he has made the semifinals without losing a set, beating two tough opponents in Filip Krajinovic and Botic Van De Zandschulp. Auger-Aliassime won over 80% of his first serves in both of his matches in Stockholm so far. Denis Shapovalov came back from a set down to beat Arthur Rinderknech in the semifinals. Shapovalov only won 57% of his service points in the first set, but won over 80% of his service points in each of the next two sets of that quarterfinal.
The head to head is tied 3-3, with Shapovalov leading 3-1 on hard courts, but Auger-Aliassime winning the past two meetings. Auger-Aliassime is certainly playing the better tennis of the two so far .He’s in control of his groundstrokes, his serving has been excellent, and he’s not given opponents much of a chance to breath out there on court. Shapovalov has been more erratic and he’s just not been himself since Wimbledon. Auger-Aliassime will comfortably reach the final.
Prediction: Auger-Aliassime in 2
