It is quarter final day at the cinch Championships on Friday with all four matches being played one after the other on the Centre Court at Queens Club on what is going to be one of the hottest days that London has seen in quite some time.
Hopefully the tennis will make the extreme temperatures which are forecast to grace this part of the English capital on Friday but with only two seeded players remaining in the last eight, there is a huge chance of a big return from the week for many.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs Botic van de Zandschulp
The opening quarter final of the day sees exactly that opportunity for both combination at stake as the former Wimbledon Boys champion Alejandro Davidovich Fokina takes on the Dutch player Botic van de Zandschulp for a place in the semi-final.
Both men are enjoying their best run in a grass court tournament as a professional and it will get better for one of them. Each player had a good win in the previous round so they should be carrying plenty of confidence forward with them here. Dovidovich Fokina saw off the Eastbourne champion Alex de Minaur while van de Zandschulp got the better of Grigor Dimitrov. On the face of it there isn’t a huge amount between these two and although my gut tells me the Spaniard might have an ounce more about him and therefore could be a bit of value neither the price nor my instinct is strong enough to merit financial support.
Tommy Paul vs Matteo Berrettini
The pick of the quarter finals is probably the second one on the Centre Court when the American player Tommy Paul goes up against the defending champion and number two seed Matteo Berrettini for a place in the semi-final against the winner of the match which is played before it.
Berrettini is in great form in this grass court season but we saw on Thursday that he isn’t completely infallible. To his credit, although he wasn’t at his best, the Italian dug in and found a way to win. Sometimes those victories give you even more confidence that the stroll in the park ones which Paul had in the second round. He cruised past an out of sorts Stan Wawrinka and even in the first round Denis Shapovalov was all at sea. I think it is hard to see Berrettini not winning this, especially in hot and humid conditions, but his performance on Thursday did nothing to inspire me into a bet.
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Ryan Peniston vs Filip Krajinovic
The penultimate quarter final will see the sole remaining British player looking to make it through to his first semi-final at this level when the wildcard Ryan Peniston takes on a Filip Krajinovic who until this week hadn’t won a senior match on grass.
He now has two wins on the surface and goes into this quarter final as a warm favourite to win the match. I think that is justified even though I don’t think he is a certainty. He held himself together well to come from a set down to Sam Querrey in the previous round whereas Peniston came through against Francisco Cerundolo in what was one of the worst matches in terms of quality and standard that you’ll see in the entire grass campaign. Peniston will need to be a lot better than what he showed in beating the Argentine but he did show in dumping Casper Ruud out in the first round that he can play well. Perhaps being the outsider here will allow him to relax and show some of the tennis we saw from him in the opening round. Even so, if Krajinovic had any sort of grass court pedigree then I’d be looking to back him but as he doesn’t I’m happy to leave this one alone.
Emil Ruusuvuori vs Marin Cilic
The last of the quarter finals sees the other seeded player left in the tournament looking for a spot in the last four when the former champion Marin Cilic takes on the Finnish qualifier Emil Ruusuvuori, with the winner progressing to take on whoever comes out in the match previous to this one.
Cilic has come through the draw well enough but when you consider how well he was playing at the French Open, he doesn’t look to be playing with the same authority here which might concern him and his fans. Whether that is fatigue or just taking time to adjust to conditions only he will know. Ruusuvuori came into the week without much in the way of a grass court reputation but having beaten a former winner of this event in qualifying in Feliciano Lopez, he’ll be out to claim the scalp of another here. The Finn played probably one of the best matches of his life in the previous round to see off Jack Draper and that will give him confidence here. I’m not convinced he’ll beat Cilic but I think he can hang around long enough to bring the over 22.5 games line in here. Unless the three matches before this one are extended games, and other than maybe the first one I don’t think they will be, this match will be played in intense heat well above 30 on the mercury measures so I’m not expecting to see too many rallies and balls chased down hell for leather here. That means serve is likely to dominate so I like the over in games here, particularly as it is their first meeting so they’ll probably take a while to get a read on the opposing serve.
Tips
Back E.Ruusuvuori vs M.Cilic – Over 22.5 games for a 3/10 stake at 1.85 with Coral
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