Three picks from the Eastbourne qualifying today, with some interesting matchups on the grass. Let's get into it.
Lexus Eastbourne Open Qualifying Predictions
Jan Choinski vs Yibing Wu
Head-to-head: First meeting
Choinski is a grass-court specialist in the truest sense, a German-British player who grew up on the surface and gets noticeably better results at Wimbledon and the pre-Wimbledon swing than anywhere else on tour. That counts for something here. But Wu has looked sharp in his return from injury over the past few months, and at world number 99, he's the better player on paper right now.
I think the grass edge for Choinski is real but not enough to flip this one. Wu in two.
Prediction: Wu in 2
Toby Samuel vs Quentin Halys
Head-to-head: First meeting
Samuel is a wildcard hopeful type, a British player who performs well enough domestically but hasn't cracked the top 100, and Halys at 94 is a seasoned tour player who can serve big and hurt you on fast surfaces. Grass suits Halys's game more than most and the ranking gap here is pretty telling. Hard to see Samuel making this truly competitive, and Halys should have too much firepower.
Prediction: Halys in 3
Felix Gill vs Marco Trungelliti
Head-to-head: Gill 1-0 Trungelliti
This is the one that caught my eye. Gill is ranked 130 spots below Trungelliti and on most surfaces this wouldn't be close, but that head-to-head lead matters and grass is a leveler. Trungelliti is an experienced clay-court grinder at 92 in the world, and the quick conditions here, which tend to neutralize his baseline game entirely, don't play to his strengths at all. That said, Gill, at 222, has less to lose and more to gain from the surface.
Gill pulls it off again in three sets, all things considered.
Prediction: Gill in 3
For full predictions on ATP and WTA matches today, check out Uppset.
Credit Image: © Kobe Li/Nexpher Images via ZUMA Press Wire