The top two seeds have made it to the semifinals of the ATP 500 in Beijing with Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz still looking strong as the week progresses. But especially the Spaniard is going to have his hands full with No. 3 seed Daniil Medvedev awaiting him in the semifinals. Meanwhile, Sinner is facing the surprise package of the event with home crowd favorite Bu Yunchaokete producing a sensational run. Who do you think will make the final?
ATP Beijing Semifinal Predictions
Jannik Sinner vs Bu Yunchaokete
Head-to-head: First meeting
The appeal from WADA regarding his doping case must be making it pretty tough for Jannik Sinner to just focus on playing tennis right now, but the Italian hasn’t really shown it on the court. While he did drop sets to Nicolas Jarry and Roman Safiullin, he basically shut the door on both players very quickly and didn’t allow them to believe they could win. Against Jiri Lehecka, he was very clutch in making sure that the match wouldn’t go to a deciding set. The reality is that Bu Yunchaokete is facing a mission-impossible scenario here, despite posting some great wins this week (and all summer). He has to play as if he had nothing to lose and keep it together mentally if a chance pops up. But it likely won’t.
Prediction: Sinner in 2
Carlos Alcaraz vs Daniil Medvedev
Head-to-head: Alcaraz 5-2
Carlos Alcaraz has rediscovered the passion that was missing from his game during the US Open swing and it’s already allowing him to grab much better results as well. The Spaniard hasn’t dropped a set so far and will be looking to go one step further than he did in Beijing last year. Daniil Medvedev also seems back on track with a set of good performances this week. This matchup has always favored Alcaraz with his serve-and-volleying out wide and dropshots easily punishing Medvedev’s deeper returning position. The Russian has some tricks up his sleeve now and does okay when he moves up to return, but the favorite remains the same.
Prediction: Alcaraz in 2
Main Photo Credit: Mike Frey-USA TODAY Sports
