The semifinals of the ATP Murray River Open are here! It’s been a hectic week, but we’ve made it to the final four. With everyone but Chardy looking for their first ATP Tour singles title, the pressure will be on in Melbourne. Who will win and who will fall short? Read on for my best guesses!
ATP Murray River Open Semifinal Predictions
Jeremy Chardy vs Dan Evans
Head to Head: 3-0 Chardy
Jeremy Chardy is a buzzsaw in 2021. Excluding a withdrawal, Chardy is 6-1 to start the season with two semifinal appearances. This includes impressive victories over Jan-Lennard Struff, Fabio Fognini, and Marin Cilic. Dan Evans hasn’t dropped a set yet this tournament. In the quarterfinals, he took down Borna Coric in a tight straight sets match.
Chardy leads the head to head 3-0, however, they’ve only played once on a hard court. This match will be a contrast in styles. Chardy will be looking to play big-serve, aggressive tennis. On the other hand, Evans is more willing to work the point and use his variety, including his nasty backhand slice, to gain control of the match. I know the head to head is 3-0 to Chardy, but Evans’ win over Coric was really impressive, and I think Evans’ tricky game will neutralize Chardy’s game in this one. It will be close, but Evans’ advances to the final.
Prediction: Evans in 3
[pickup_prop id=”4645″]
Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Corentin Moutet
Head to Head: 3-0 Auger-Aliassime
Felix Auger-Aliassime benefitted from Jiri Vesely retiring in his quarterfinal match, but he’s playing really good tennis this week. In Auger-Aliassime’s round of 16 match against Egor Gerasimov, he had to save a match point and won the third set tiebreak 8-6. Corentin Moutet is playing counterpunching tennis that reminds me of when he went to the Doha final last season. Moutet is solid from the baseline and can turn defense into offense quickly. In his quarterfinal match, Moutet comfortably took down Grigor Dimitrov in an impressive showing.
Auger-Aliassime leads the head to head 3-0, but only one match was played on hard. However, that match at the US Open last year was an absolute beatdown, with Moutet winning five games in three sets. Moutet is solid from the baseline and likes to play with changes in pace and variety. Auger-Aliassime has a huge first serve and likes to take control of points early. Moutet’s incredible counterpunching this week will make this match a lot closer than at the US Open, but I still think that Auger-Aliassime just has a little too much power for the Frenchman to handle. Auger-Aliassime reaches the final.
Prediction: Auger-Aliassime in 3
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
