As should be expected of a tournament played on clay the week after Wimbledon, the ATP 250 in Bastad didn’t exactly feature a very stacked field to begin with, so it’s no surprise to see some unusual names in this quarterfinal lineup. That said, while there will be no top ranked players in action, there’s plenty of players whose favorite surface is clay and who will do everything to hoist a rare ATP level title.
ATP Bastad Quarterfinal Predictions
Camilo Ugo Carabelli vs Filip Misolic
Head-to-head: Misolic 2-0 Carabelli
Both players are heavily reliant on clay results to keep their ranking up and have an excellent opportunity to get a lot of points here and maybe even a title. On paper, it is a very even matchup, but their previous matchups were dominated by Misolic, who seems to be the more comfortable player of the two when they face each other. He definitely has at least a slight edge here based on those previous confrontations.
Prediction: Misolic in 3
Sebastian Baez vs Luciano Darderi
Head-to-head: Baez 4-1 Darderi
Baez keeps his ranking high year after year by dominating small clay court events, having already won six clay titles (out of ten finals) at ATP 250 and 500 level. That success hasn’t translated to higher level tournaments at all, but at this level he’s extremely tough to beat and always a threat to win any tournament. However, Darderi himself has won two ATP 250 events on clay this year, so this is pretty much a battle between kings of smaller clay tournaments and should be an extremely close match.
Prediction: Baez in 3
Francisco Cerundolo vs Damir Dzumhur
Head-to-head: first meeting
Cerundolo is the highest ranked player left in the tournament, and the one with the best resumé at Slam and especially Masters 1000 level, but he doesn’t tend to be very consistent or clinical at ATP 250 level. Still, against Dzumhur, whose best days seem definitely behind him, he should advance and make it to the semifinals here.
Prediction: Cerundolo in 2
Jesper De Jong vs Tallon Griekspoor
Head-to-head: De Jong 1-0 Griekspoor
Griekspoor has pretty much established himself as a solid Top 30/40 player and a guy who can have good runs on any surface. De Jong has had some decent results but is still far from the level Griekspoor has reached. Even so, clay seems to be his strongest surface and he could well make things very tough for Griekspoor here.
Prediction: Griekspoor in 3
Main Photo Credit: Mike Frey-USA TODAY Sports
