The semi-finals of the HSBC Championships will take place at a roasting hot Queens Club on Saturday as we find out which two men will progress to play off for the trophy and the 500 ranking points on offer in the final on Sunday.
We have had a week of shocks but despite that the two top seeds have made it into the semi-finals and they have been joined by a couple of dangerous outsiders so we should be in for a decent day of tennis in the capital.
Jiri Lehecka vs Jack Draper
The opening semi-final will be the one the packed crowd will have a huge interest in as the home player Jack Draper looks to make it through to a Queens final for the first time when he takes on the Czech ace Jiri Lehecka.
Lehecka opened up his route to this semi-final when he took care of Alex de Minaur in the opening round and then in his quarter final he upset the home crowd by beating their man Jacob Fearnley and he’ll be aiming to play the role of the villain again here. Draper has lived a bit of a charmed life to get to this stage. He had a comfortable first round win but has been taken the distance in the last two matches. To be fair to the Brit, when the crunch time has come in both of those matches he has delivered the goods and that bodes well for him here but you get the feeling that Lehecka is going to bring the best out of Draper and I wouldn’t be completely shocked if on a roasting hot day the shorter time that the Czech has spent on court so far makes a difference. Lehecka has spent 3hr40 on court in total in his three matches whereas Draper has totalled six hours in his three matches. You would imagine the crowd will keep Draper going and so this could well turn into another lengthy affair. The game line for this one is 22.5 games and with both having the ability to do damage on their serve I think this gets covered in a two set match let alone a match with a deciding set.
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Carlos Alcaraz vs Roberto Bautista Agut
We know that there will be a Spaniard in the final and on Saturday we find out who it will be when the top seed Carlos Alcaraz looks to make it through to the title match when he faces his compatriot Roberto Bautista Agut in the second semi-final.
Alcaraz is another big name who has lived a charmed life this week. He was a little fortunate to get the better of Jaume Munar in the second round in a match that lasted nearly 3.5 hours and wasn’t at his best against Arthur Rinderknech but he goes up against a Bautista Agut who has been something of a marathon man this week. He has gone to a deciding set in all three of his matches and they have all closed in on the 2h30 minute range so you wonder what he has left to offer at this stage of his career. RBA is a former Wimbledon semi-finalist so it isn’t a surprise he is in the last four of another grass tournament but you’ve got to think that Alcaraz will have his number here. Alcaraz has won both of their meetings in straight sets and that outcome feels the most likely here but you can only get 2/5 on that outcome so I’ll leave that alone and just stick with the bet in the opening semi-final.
Tips
Back J.Lehecka vs J.Draper – Over 22.5 games for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with Boylesports
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