Certainly a surprising lineup in the final of the ATP Adelaide International, with organizers most likely hoping for the opposite results in the semifinals which would have given them defending champion Thanasi Kokkinakis against rising star Jack Draper. Instead, it will be veteran Roberto Bautista Agut facing off with lucky loser Soonwoo Kwon. As always, we here at LWOT will preview and predict the match. Will Kwon become the tenth lucky loser to win a title in ATP history?
ATP Adelaide Final Prediction
Roberto Bautista Agut vs Soonwoo Kwon
Head-to-head: first meeting
While the 34-year-old Roberto Bautista Agut may no longer be the threat at slams that he once was, he is showing that he can still get it done on the tour level. The Spaniard reached both the Australian Open quarterfinals and Wimbledon semifinals back in 2019 and only got past the second round once in 2022. Bautista Agut won two titles last season though and could very well get another to start 2023. After a second-round loss to Sebastian Korda in week one, Bautista Agut has managed to string some good wins together in week 2. The 34-year-old had a rough start against fellow veteran Robin Haase, defeating the lucky loser ranked outside the Top 250 6-3 3-6 6-3. Bautista Agut then dropped just five games against his countryman Alejandro Davidovich Fokina before taking out defending champion Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-3 in the third.
Kwon, the first lucky loser in the final of an ATP event since Pablo Cuevas in 2019, looks like he could be in for a good bounceback season. The signs were there in week one already, when the Korean defeated Dominic Thiem and Taro Daniel to qualify before winning only three games against Jack Draper. In Adelaide 2, Kwon started with another strong qualifying win, this time over Vasek Pospisil before losing to Tomas Machac in the final qualifying round. Kwon would get his revenge in the main draw, defeating Machac as a lucky loser. He then upset Pablo Carreno Busta 6-4 in the third before allowing Mikael Ymer only three games in the quarterfinals. Kwon got even more revenge in the semifinals, taking out Jack Draper 7-6 6-7 6-3 after the young Brit’s week one win.
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Something about this week seems almost written in the stars for Kwon but against an opponent with such vast experience, I see the Korean falling short while Bautista Agut wins the 12th ATP title of his career.
Prediction: Bautista Agut in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
