It promises to be an entertaining semifinal day at the ATP Queen’s Club Championships, with four talented young players set to take to the courts in Kensington. All four could do some damage at Wimbledon (some perhaps more than others) and, as always, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for all four matches. But who will reach Sunday’s final?
ATP Queen’s Club Semifinal Predictions
Alex de Minaur vs Holger Rune
Head-to-head: Rune 2-1 de Minaur
Alex de Minaur has played some really solid tennis so far this week, not least in dispatching two-time former-Wimbledon champion Andy Murray for the loss of only four games. Of course, Murray is not the player he once was and was perhaps slightly short of a gallop after winning back-to-back Challenger titles, but then he had also won back-to-back Challenger titles. And de Minaur has maintained his fine form, adding wins over Diego Schwartzman and Adrian Mannarino.
But second seed Holger Rune has also looked at home on the grass courts at the ATP Queen’s Club Championship. He is a very pure ball-striker when he is on song, and beating serve-and-volley specialist Maxime Cressy, home home Ryan Peniston and sixth seed Lorenzo Musetti all without dropping a set reflects that. De Minaur’s court coverage should draw some errors from the Dane’s racquet, but the aggressor typically wins out on the grass and that looks the likeliest result here.
Prediction: Rune in 3
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Carlos Alcaraz vs Sebastian Korda
Head-to-head: Alcaraz 2-1 Korda
Sebastian Korda is the sort of player who could trouble Carlos Alcaraz. The American has easy power off both wings and a booming serve that can take the racquet out of opponent’s hands. He has also looked very sharp so far at Queen’s Club, beating Dan Evans, fourth seed Frances Tiafoe and British #1 Cameron Norrie in relatively comprehensive fashion (Norrie did take him to a second-set tiebreak but that is the closest he has come to dropping a set), but then Alcaraz is the world #2 for a reason.
The 20-year-old has also won an almost astonishing 38 matches this season (by way of comparison Korda has won 12) and that is in spite of missing the Australian Open. He had to dig deep to win his first-round match against Arthur Rinderknech, but since then has looked fairly imperious in accounting for Jiri Lehecka and Grigor Dimitrov. If he can maintain the level he displayed in those matches, expect him to have the beating of Korda – though he may need to go the distance.
Prediction: Alcaraz in 3
Main photo credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
