It’s quarterfinal day at the ATP Singapore Tennis Open and the cream has definitely risen to the top, with six of the top eight seeds making the last eight–with one of the other two spots filled by a surprise wild card. These matches are definitely getting harder to predict but at least they’re no doubt interesting.
ATP Singapore Tennis Open Quarterfinal Predictions
Matthew Ebden vs Alexei Popyrin
Head-to-head: Popyrin 1-0
Ebden has surprised a lot of people already by routing fellow countryman and second seed John Millman in the Round of 16. Now he’ll face another Aussie Popyrin in a battle to make the last four. The younger of the two Aussies leads the head-to-head R1 with a straight sets win three years ago in Basel and even though Popyrin struggled in his last match against Adrian Andreev ranked outside the top 400, I think he should have too much in his game for Ebden to get the win.
Prediction: Popyrin in 3
Radu Albot vs Adrian Mannarino
Head-to-head: Mannarino 1-0
Top seed Mannarino made a good start to his campaign with a nice straight set win but now Albot stands in his way. The Moldavian has lost sets in both his matches so far to opponents he really shouldn’t on paper, including a near loss in his most recent match. If Albot is to pull of the upset here he’s going to have to play far better, and likelihood is that won’t be the case.
Prediction: Mannarino in 2
Alexander Bublik vs Yoshihito Nishioka
Head-to-head: 1-1
Bublik, now ranked inside the world’s top 50 has become one of those players where he’ll beat who he should and almost always lose to who he’s expected to. But in a matchup like this it’s hard to know if he should be beating Nishioka who’s only ranked 15 places lower. Game style wise Nishioka will make Bublik earn the win so it’s up to the man from Kazakhstan to produce the goods. Just like their head-to-head, this really is quite a hard one to call but I expect Bublik to make the semis and continue his search for a maiden ATP title.
Prediction: Bublik in 3.
Marin Cilic vs Soon-woo Kwon
Head-to-head: 0-0
The third seed against the eight seed should be a treat. After Kwon struggled in his opening match, making the long journey over from Italy where he won a Challenger event last week, many thought the trip to Singapore might have been a short one. Instead he recovered extremely well with a convincing win against Uchiyama to make the quarterfinals. Unfortunately for him, as good as he’s getting and rising up the ranks, even Cilic in poor form might just be a step too far. The pair have never met besides in an exhibition last year which Cilic won, but I expect this to go the same way. Kwon doesn’t have the best record against Top 50 players, and it’s hard to see that changing Friday unless Cilic puts in a shocker of a performance.
Prediction: Cilic in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
