Three quarter-final picks from the Hangzhou Open today, with temperatures sitting around 86°F and a near-certain chance of rain hanging over the courts. Could get interesting out there. Let's get into it.
Hangzhou Open Predictions
Daniil Medvedev vs Chak Lam Coleman Wong
Head-to-head: First meeting
Wong has had a solid run to get here, but this is a massive jump in level. Medvedev is one of the best hard-court players in the world, and his ability to absorb pace and redirect it in long rallies is exactly what makes him so hard to crack on this surface. Wong is ranked 108th for a reason and there's nothing in his game that suggests he can trouble a top-10 player over a best-of-three.
Prediction: Medvedev in 2
Hugo Gaston vs Andrey Rublev
Head-to-head: Gaston 0-1 Rublev
Gaston is a fun player to watch and his slice-heavy, crafty game can cause problems on clay, but hard courts really strip away most of his tricks. Hard to see this being competitive at all. Rublev's ball-striking on this surface is too clean and too heavy for Gaston to handle consistently, and their only previous meeting, which came indoors on a fast surface, went Rublev's way already. I think this is fairly comfortable for Rublev.
Prediction: Rublev in 2
Fabian Marozsan vs Kyrian Jacquet
Head-to-head: First meeting
This is the interesting one. Marozsan is the higher-ranked player and has shown he can compete at a solid level, but Jacquet has been quietly building some momentum and this feels like a match where rankings don't tell the whole story. On a slower hard court with rain potentially affecting conditions, the margins get tight fast and Marozsan hasn't always been the most consistent when he needs to close things out.
That said, Jacquet in three sets is the call here, and it wouldn't be a shock at all.
Prediction: Jacquet in 3
For full predictions on ATP and WTA matches today, check out Uppset.
Credit Image: © Scott Stuart/ZUMA Press Wire