It has been quite a week at the Rio Open with seeds falling every day but the biggest upset happened in the quarterfinals as top seed, Alexander Zverev crashed out. Zverev’s elimination presents a great opportunity for all four players to win the title. Defending champion, Sebastian Baez is still going strong and is featured in this article. As always, we at LWOT will offer predictions for both the semifinal matches. But who will advance to the final?
ATP Rio Semifinal Predictions
Alexandre Muller vs Francisco Comesana
Head-to-Head: first meeting
Francisco Comesana shocked Alexander Zverev in a fantastic three-set win. It’s the biggest win of Comesana’s life and the biggest upset of the year on the men’s side. The Argentine took full advantage of Zverev’s passive tennis after the first set and punished the short balls with aplomb. He displayed a great attitude and energy even when trailing in the third set. Comesana has now won both his matches against top 10 players and will be looking to make his first ATP final.
The possibility of an all-Argentine semifinal lineup was denied to Argentinian supporters by Alexandre Muller, who defeated Francisco Cerundolo in straight sets. Muller has played some excellent attacking tennis to get through his incredibly difficult draw and hasn’t lost a set this week. Among the semifinalists, he is arguably playing the best tennis, and I expect him to defeat Comesana and reach his second tour-level final of the season.
Prediction: Muller in 2
Sebastian Baez vs Camilo Ugo Carabelli
Head-to-Head: Baez 1-0 Carabelli
Sebastian Baez played his best match of the week as he comfortably defeated Chun-Hsin Tseng in the quarterfinals. Baez is just two wins away from defending the Rio Open title and he looks set to do that. Baez has improved with every match and is peaking at the right moment. He will face a player who he defeated last week in the first round in Buenos Aires.
Camilo Ugo Carabelli is having the week of his life as he defeated Jaime Faria in straight sets to book his first-ever ATP Tour semifinals. Carabelli was more solid in the match and handled the pressure better than his opponent. He should also take some confidence from last week where he pushed Baez more than the scoreline suggested. This can turn out to be a slugfest and I like Baez’s chances better in that scenario.
Prediction: Baez in 3
