The ATP 500 draw in Astana has very much held up, getting four of the top five seeds in the semifinals, with Carlos Alcaraz the only one failing to reach this stage. As always, we here at LWOT will preview and predict every match. Who do you think will go to the final?
ATP Astana Semifinals Predictions
Andrey Rublev vs Stefanos Tsitsipas
Head-to-head: Rublev 5-5 Tsitsipas
The eleventh meeting between the two to break the tie, the first one dating back to the 2017 Quimper Challenger with the last meeting being in Madrid earlier this year. Rublev and Tsitsipas have also met at the ATP Finals for the past two seasons, splitting their meetings there.
Rublev, the lowest-ranked semifinalist in Astana, has followed up on his decent US Open performances this week. The World No. 9 made the quarterfinals at the final Slam of the season, earning wins over Denis Shapovalov and Cameron Norrie, while this week he is yet to drop a set. Rublev has straightforward wins over Laslo Djere, Zhizhen Zhang, and Adrian Mannarino so far. After reaching the Cincinnati final, Tsitsipas suffered a surprising loss to Daniel Elahi Galan in his US Open first-round match. The Greek has looked solid in his first ATP tournament since though, also yet to drop a set with wins over Mikhail Kukushkin, Luca Nardi, Hubert Hurkacz. It’s a very tight match to call with all the indicators but I will lean slightly towards Rublev here.
Prediction: Rublev in 3
Novak Djokovic vs Daniil Medvedev
Head-to-head: Djokovic 6-4 Medvedev
A battle of two players who were ranked No. 1 earlier in 2022, the eleventh meeting between the two and the first one of the season. Medvedev famously prevented Djokovic from earning the Calendar Slam last season with a straight-set win at the US Open, the Serb getting his revenge a couple of weeks later at Paris-Bercy. Djokovic has played quite sparingly this season, with his vaccination status preventing him from entering two Slams.
Discounting Laver Cup, though, the Serb has not lost since the French Open–winning Wimbledon, taking a break during the North American hard court season, and winning Tel Aviv last week. Djokovic has been dominant this week, dropping a grand total of 13 games across wins over Cristian Garin, Botic Van De Zandschulp, and Karen Khachanov. He also did not drop a set during his Tel Aviv run. After tough losses to Nick Kyrgios at the US Open and Stan Wawrinka at Metz, Medvedev is showing that Djokovic is not the only one out to prove a point this week. The 26-year-old has dropped just eleven games in wins over Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Emil Ruusuvuori, and Roberto Bautista Agut. This match is a must-watch and could very well define the remainder of the season for both players. Djokovic and Medvedev have looked scary good this week but I have to lean towards the 21-time Slam champion.
Prediction: Djokovic in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
