There should be no shortage of entertaining tennis on day five at the Tokyo Olympics with all eight third-round matches on the schedule in the Japanese capital. As always, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match, including Novak Djokovic vs Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. But who will reach the quarterfinals?
Tokyo Olympics Day 5 Predictions
Daniil Medvedev vs Fabio Fognini
Jim: Daniil Medvedev dealt with the tough first-round draw of Alexander Bublik impressively and he backed that up by hammering Sumit Nagal for the loss of only three games. He will almost certainly face stiffer resistance up against Fabio Fognini. But it is hard to see how the Italian will be able to hurt Medvedev consistently enough to win this match.
Prediction: Medvedev in 3
Yesh: What a tough match here. Medvedev is playing so well, and Russian athletes as a whole are having incredible success at these Olympics. But Fognini looks like a man on a mission, and his game appears built to negate Medvedev’s. This should be a fun one.
Prediction: Fognini in 3
Anish: Medvedev is looking too good at Tokyo right now. He cruised through his first two rounds without dropping a set against quality opponents. Fognini has also faced little difficulty in reaching the round of 16. Medvedev leads their head-to-head by 5-1 , and his only loss against Fognini came way back in 2017. He is playing on a whole different level now, and should come out on top easily.
Prediction: Medvedev in 2
Ilya Ivashka vs Kei Nishikori
Jim: It has been some effort from Kei Nishikori so far. The Japanese started his campaign with a superb 6-3 6-4 win over Andrey Rublev and he backed that up with a battling victory over Marcos Giron. The drop in level after his first match will be a concern, but this is another winnable match for Nishikori. If he plays anything like his best tennis, he should have the beating of Ilya Ivashka.
Prediction: Nishikori in 3
Yesh: Ivashka is playing good tennis, but that’s not going to stop Kei Nishikori in his home Olympics. The Japanese man will earn a much-anticipated quarterfinal showdown with Novak Djokovic.
Prediction: Nishikori in 2
Anish: Ivashka defeated Gael Monfils in his first-round match in three sets before outlasting Mikhail Kukushkin. Although he is really dangerous on the fast hard courts with his big serve, it will not be easy for him to overcome Nishikori’s defense. Home hope Nishikori was on fire in his first-round match against Rublev. He is a lot more experienced than Ivashka and his resilience will see him prevail in this encounter.
Prediction: Nishikori in 3
Alexander Zverev vs Nikoloz Basilashvili
Jim: Nikoloz Basilashvili is unquestionably a very fine player – he has after all been ranked as high as world #16 – but he does not really possess a plan b. Against most opponents, he does not need one thanks to his power from the back of the court. But there are very few players, if any, who can go toe-to-toe with Alexander Zverev and come out on top. Particularly when he is in this sort of form.
Prediction: Zverev in 2
Yesh: What a matchup this is. Basilashvili is playing well, and he can beat anyone in the world when he does that. Zverev’s serve and power game are too good to confidently pick against, but an upset is far from impossible here.
Prediction: Zverev in 3
Anish: Zverev has faced no problems till now as he has made short work of his two low-ranked opponents. He is serving especially well and is looking in great nick. Basilashvili on the other hand faced good quality players and emerged victorious. In his three-set victory against Lorenzo Sonego, his groundstrokes looked particularly impressive. Zverev faces a stiff challenge then, but he should still secure a win.
Prediction: Zverev in 3
Ugo Humbert vs Stefanos Tsitsipas
Jim: This may just prove to be the most competitive match of the third round at the Tokyo Olympics. Their only previous match, which Ugo Humbert won 7-6 6-7 7-6 certainly was. But Stefanos Tsitsipas played very well to dismiss the challenge of Frances Tiafoe – who beat him less than a month ago at Wimbledon – in the second round. If he can maintain that level, he should have just about too much for the Frenchman.
Prediction: Tsitsipas in 3
Yesh: Tsitsipas appears to have found his form again, after suffering a slight hangover from his French Open final loss from two sets to the good. He should have too much for Humbert to find a way through.
Prediction: Tsitsipas in 2
Anish: Tsitsipas looked a bit edgy in his first-round win against Philip Kohlschreiber. But in the second round, he played under a closed roof and made short work of Tiafoe. Humbert has had a fine tournament and his play on the grass shows his proficiency on faster courts, whereas Tsitsipas is coming into the match after two recent upsets. This should be a close match and the outcome may hinge on the roof, but this is a good chance for Humbert to secure a second win against Tsitsipas.
Prediction: Humbert in 3
Main photo:
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