We’re down to four players at the ATP Libema Open in Den Bosch, Netherlands. Tallon Griekspoor came through the ever-plucky Alex De Minaur and will now take on Emil Ruusuvuori, who downed Jannik Sinner without losing a point on first-serve. On the other side of the draw, both Rinky Hijakata and Jordan Thompson won their matches after dropping tight first sets. We’ve taken it upon ourselves at LWOT to try to predict which players will contest the final.<\/p>\n
Rinky Hijikata is playing with house money at this point. He’s a lucky loser that’s survived his last three matches from a set down. They’ve been good wins and the Aussie has served exceptionally well–we were tempted to say this doesn’t mean Hijikata will play freely in his next match but history would suggest the complete opposite. The world #133 is a cool 21-7 when he’s progressed to the semifinals of any tournament and was fantastic during his Australian Open doubles title run at the start of the year.<\/p>\n
Hijikata is a momentum player and should be able to give his compatriot, Jordan Thompson, something to worry about. Thompson brings a solid base-level to his matches but Hijikata could play flashily enough to clinch it in the bigger moments. It’ll probably go down to the wire and we’re tempted to side with the underdog.
\nPrediction:\u00a0Hijikata in 3<\/em><\/p>\n