The Millennium Estoril Open semifinals promise high-quality tennis on the Portuguese clay, with an all-French clash between Hugo Gaston and Luca van Assche, while #2 seed Luciano Darderi takes on #4 seed Alexander Blockx. As always, we at LWOT will offer predictions for both matches, but which players will advance to the finals?
ATP Estoril Semifinal Predictions
Hugo Gaston vs Luca Van Assche
Head-to-Head: Gaston 0-1 Van Assche
Luca Van Assche defeated top seed Andrey Rublev to reach his first-ever ATP Tour semifinal. It’s the biggest win of his career, and he achieved it with a lot of grit and determination, having lost the first set. He soaked all of Rublev’s power with his deep court position and forced the Russian to overhit. All of Van Assche’s wins this week have come in three sets, in stark contrast to his semifinal opponent.
Hugo Gaston joined his compatriot in the last four with an easy straight-sets win over Portuguese wild card Tiago Torres. Gaston, who is into his first Tour-level semifinals since October 2024, used effective drop shots in windy conditions to end the dream run of the local. Gaston and Van Assche have met earlier this season, where the younger Frenchman won in two close sets. However, backing a big win is never easy, and I expect Gaston to win this time in three sets.
Prediction: Gaston in 3
Alexander Blockx vs Luciano Darderi
Head-to-Head: first meeting
21-year-old Alexander Blockx showed great promise when he reached the semifinals of the Madrid Masters earlier this season, and now he is back in another ATP semifinal, but this time he has a much better shot at winning. He had a tricky match against Roman Andres Burruchaga in the quarterfinals, but after losing the second set, his serve became a weapon and helped him get over the line.
Luciano Darderi looked down and out when he was a set and 2-5 down against Jaime Faria in the quarterfinals, but he took full advantage of Faria’s slight dip in level and upped his game to win five games in a row and steal the second set. He was the more consistent player from there on and easily won the match in the end. If Darderi plays as he did towards the second half of that match, he will be in a great position to reach the final in Estoril.
Prediction: Darderi in 3
Main Photo Credit: Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images
