It’s quarterfinal day at the ATP Mifel Tennis Open and we’ve got four matches that promise unlimited entertainment on Thursday night. Top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas will look to even the head-to-head when he plays Chile’s Nicolas Jarry in the pick of the matches. Who will reach the semifinals?
ATP Los Cabos Quarterfinal Predictions
Dominik Koepfer vs Aleksandar Kovacevic
Head-to-head: Koepfer 1-1 Kovacevic
The first match of the day features two undercards. Koepfer was a strong favorite to make it this far given his recent momentum and a very good draw on paper. The German lefty is coming off a dominant win over James Duckworth, dropping just four games there.
Kovacevic, meanwhile, faced the daunting task of taking on the second seed Cameron Norrie in the round of 16. The British No. 1 is at his best in this part of the continent and Kovacevic had slim hopes of getting out of that match unscathed. But the American served efficiently throughout, facing only two break points to win 5-7 7-6 6-4 in almost three hours. Winning the second set tiebreak swayed momentum to his side in the decider and he did not blink when he served for the match. On the back of his career-best win, it almost feels cruel to pick against him here.
Prediction: Kovacevic in 3
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Alex de Minaur vs Tommy Paul
Head-to-head: De Minaur 4-0 Paul
De Minaur struggled for a fair bit in closing out his opening match against Skander Mansouri, but he had no issues in ending Thiago Agustin Tirante’s six-match win streak in Mexico. The Argentine’s second serve was unlikely to stand still against De Minaur’s vast attacking skillset and the Aussie broke him five times.
Tommy Paul favored the humid conditions in Los Cabos in a week when most Americans play in Washington. But it wasn’t quite the challenge he anticipated against Meligeni Alves who played some clutch tennis to keep the score very close for over two hours, managing just two breaks against the world #177. De Minaur’s is a whopping 4-0 in the head-to-head, but there have been a couple of three-setters along the way. This one will likely tread that line and Paul will probably face a mental hurdle to overcome the Aussie.
Prediction: de Minaur in 3
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Borna Coric vs Ilya Ivashka
Head-to-head: first meeting
It was a business-like performance from Borna Coric who recorded an emphatic 6-1 6-2 win over lucky loser Jason Jung, taking just 69 minutes. While I can’t reiterate just how important this stretch is for him, he’ll try to maximize every possible opportunity at this low-key 250 event, even if it meant playing players outside the world’s top 100.
Ivashka has already beaten one Croat, Borna Gojo, in the previous round, to reach his second quarterfinal of the season. He has pretty much confirmed his return to the Top 100 with that result, and it was probably his goal this week. The serve continues to be a drawback though, serving 19 double faults across two matches. Ivashka won’t get away with it here.
Prediction: Coric in 2
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Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Nicolas Jarry
Head-to-head: Jarry 2-1 Tsitsipas
This should be a fun battle as top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas faces a first acid test at the tournament. Tsitsipas was in terrific form as he dismantled John Isner 6-2 6-4 on his tournament debut. He generated seven break points and broke Isner three times, twice to love, which was a measure of how high his return game was.
Jarry isn’t heading in Isner’s retirement road though. And the Chilean will have a lot more success in exploiting Tsitsipas’ backhand. He won’t be as profligate in making a myriad of uncharacteristic errors from his forehand, something Isner did almost the entire match. But I was overly impressed by what I saw from Tsitsipas – serving superbly and taking the ball with purpose behind the return. He’s also spoken with enthusiasm playing in the seaside Mexican city which he feels is not dissimilar to Greece. Maybe he’ll finally overcome that title drought this week.
Prediction: Tsitsipas in 3
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
