Tennis / atp vienna indoor

Yesterday served up one of the most intriguing matches of the Basel ATP yet - Tsitsipas vs Medvedev - both next gen players with titles to their name this year. The only problem was it was too late here over in Thailand to watch it and I overlooked the match as it was classed as the 'next day' here. Let that be a lesson for me to check Friday and Saturday next time with me being UTC+7. Sadly the match I wrote a preview on did not finish as my pick (Coric) withdrew early in the second set with an injury. As predicted the match was extremely tight in the first set with it going to a tie break that Anderson broke free early in. Coric became a bit passive towards the end of the first but started the second set strong before he then suddenly retired so I was disappointed not to see how that match played out. This leaves Anderson to proceed to the Semi Finals with his second match in a row skipped. He now faces Fernando Verdasco today who also skipped a partially finished match against Gael Monfils who also withdrew due to injury after the first set. ATP Vienna: Anderson vs Verdasco Anderson serving at the Laver Cup this year. Anderson has one of the biggest serves in the game. Hopefully we will get to see a full semi final here without another withdrawal and for me there is only one outcome. I wasn't surprised to see Verdasco go through against my previous pick Edmund. Edmund put in a decent display but just faltered at a few key moments. Verdasco played a great game of tennis but he didn't look unstoppable against Edmund and showed signs of weakness himself. Edmund in that game had a tamer service game compared to previous displays but Verdasco will not get the same leeway against Anderson. Anderson yesterday looked as dominant as ever on his serve vs Coric. I picked Coric to win because I believed he had the legs and would overcome the big South African - unfortunately we didn't get to see the conclusion. That match was more intriguing than this one. Here I can only see an Anderson win because Verdasco doesn't have the legs Coric has to cope with the power of Anderson. Last night he served 10 aces in the first set against Coric, won 87% of his first serves and didn't give the Croatian a single break point opportunity. This was the sort of tennis we have seen him play all year, the sort that allowed him to get to the Wimbledon final for the first time in his career and also which allowed him to take out Djokovic at the Laver Cup in September. Verdasco is a solid base line player and has a wicked serve and forehand himself but it's not in the same league as Anderson. Kevdog as he's known has also looked very aggressive from the baseline this month not letting opponents have it easy on their own serve. Yesterday Coric had to save three break points in his final service game simply due to Anderson's aggression on return of serve rather than any unforced errors from Coric. He is likely to look to take the match here my the scruff of the neck with Verdasco and look to make the early running. Match Prediction: Anderson to win this one at 1.50. I'd also be tempted as a secondary bet to go for a straight sets victory at 2.30. ATP Basel: Federer vs Medvedev Federer in action last night vs Simon. ATP World Tour - Roger Federer Whilst Federer hasn't had things completely his own way at his home tournament in Basel this year he's nevertheless got the job done in all three matches. Conceding sets to both Krajinovic in the first round and Simon last night in the Quarter Finals he's looked a little fragile at times and produced a series of unforced errors off his forehand at the wrong moments. But that leaves plenty of room for improvement with the 8 time Basel Champion and tonight he comes up against the Bear and this months Tokyo 500 champion Daniil Medvedev which results in his odds being a little bit more attractive to go for a straight sets victory against the Russian. Medvedev came through in three sets last night against fellow next gen star Stefanos Tsitsipas. The clash of the youngsters was probably the match of the night which produced an evenly balanced contest and slugging fest from the back. Match Prediction: Medvedev also gave Federer a run for his money in this months Shanghai Masters taking the Swiss Maestro to three sets in their first ever meeting. Whilst Medvedev is enjoying the best tennis of his career so far I believe Federer will have one his better matches tonight and can take the Bear in straight sets at 1.80. ATP Basel: Zverev vs Copil: Outside Chance Copil is having the best year of his career. ATP World Tour - Marius Copil Here's a little side prediction with a player who has an outside chance of winning tonight in Basel. Marius Copil who has come through two qualification matches here and five matches in total including upsetting Marin Cilic in the 3rd round faces the most successful young player on tour Alexander Zverev. Zverev has yet to drop a set this tournament in the same fashion as in Shanghai this month before he lost to Djokovic comprehensively in the Semi Final. It's very unlikely he will loose here against Copil, the reasons I am punting for a Copil win is just how strong the Romanian is on serve, especially this year and at this tournament. He hit's the ball so hard and against Cilic he fired down 21 aces in a straight sets win plus in his last match against American Fritz he served another 18. Indoor hard courts are also his favourite surface. This year saw him reach his first ever ATP tour final, also not coincidentally at a hard indoor tournament. Copil has yet to drop a set in his 5 previous matches this year in Basel also taking out Alexanders younger brother Mischa Zverev in the first qualification round by 2 sets to 0. Can he make it a double over the Zverev brothers? These two have never met before leaving Alexander inexperienced to Copil's style of play and vice versa. This could work to Copil's advantage if he can reign down as many aces tonight as in all his previous games putting the pressure on Zverev to hold serve and if Copil can take the German to a couple of tie breaks he could well get the rub of the green. The world number 93 has an outside chance of an upset here at 4.33.