It’s been an exciting week at the ATP Halle Open and we’re down to the final four competitors fighting it out for the title. The four semifinalists have done an excellent job making the transition to grass and it will be fascinating to see how the semifinal matches shake out.
Who will win and who will fall short? I give my best guesses.
ATP Halle Semifinal Predictions
Hubert Hurkacz vs Nick Kyrgios
Head to Head: never played
Hubert Hurkacz saved the one break point he faced in the quarterfinals against Felix Auger-Aliassime, taking the match 7-6(2) 7-6(4). Hurkacz won 79% of his first serves and did a great job of having few mental lapses on his service. Nick Kyrgios continue to play excellent grass-court tennis in Halle, defeating Pablo Carreno Busta 6-4, 6-2. Kyrgios won 91% of his first serves and wasn’t broken all match. Kyrgios will be nearly unplayable on grass if he continues to serve like this, having only been broken once in his three matches this week.
These two have never played before. Both players serve huge and there will be very few opportunities (if any) to break one another. With that said, Kyrgios’ serve is a little bit tougher for opponents to read and he is the better of the two when playing aggressive tennis from the baseline. Hurkacz tends to be a bit too passive from the baseline and the Aussie can take advantage of this passiveness in the crucial moments of the match.
While Hurkacz will be right in this match, Kyrgios will prevail.
Prediction: Kyrgios in 3
Daniil Medvedev vs Oscar Otte
Head to Head: never played
Daniil Medvedev played solid, consistent tennis in his straight-sets victory over Roberto Bautista Agut in the quarterfinals Medvedev won 82% of his first serves and saved all nine break points that he faced. Oscar Otte continues to impress in Halle, coming back from a set down to defeat Karen Khachanov 4-6 7-6(5) 6-4. Otte hit 22 aces and won 79% of his first-serve points, giving Khachanov very few chances on his serve.
These two have never played before. Medvedev’s first serve was terrific against Bautista Agut, but he only won 7/21 second serve points. Otte will look to be aggressive and take advantage of this weakness in the Russian’s game. Otte should also get some free points with his strong first serve. With that said, Medvedev is one of the best returners in men’s tennis and should get more of Otte’s serves back into play than any of Otte’s previous opponents in Halle.
In addition, even on grass, Medvedev has incredible consistency and depth from the baseline and his flatter groundstrokes cut through the court and make it difficult for Otte to attack. Look for Medvedev to force Otte to play more baseline points than he wants and grind the German down, leading to a straight sets victory for the Russian.
Prediction: Medvedev in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
