Suprises in the men’s draw at the later stages of the majors are becoming a distant memory. The trio of Sinner, Alcaraz are a staple with Fritz not far behind having made the quarters or better in 5 of his last 6 major appearances (not including the French Open). Lehecka has equalled his best result at Grand Slam level but must beat Alcaraz to make the final four for the first time.
This is the 3rd time this season that the two will face off and it is fair to say that Lehecka has held his own. Alcaraz was a winner in straight sets at Queen’s two years ago and got the better of the Spaniard in Qatar at the start of this season despite winning fewer than 40% of 2nd serve points. They would them meet again at Queen’s, this time in the final, with Alcaraz winning in three. The scoreline in that match flatters Lehecka as he was unable to generate a single great point opportunity but managed to win the second set in a breaker. Carlos has dropped serve once in his entire tournament and has been unchallenged on serve. The most impressive part about Alcaraz in this tournament has been the absence of mental lapses. He is locked in and will not be dropping a set.
Bet: Sets Alcaraz 3-0 ($1.55)
Those who followed the futures tips will already be on Fritz to win the quarter at 4.30. We were hoping that Novak would make an early exit but that has not been the case. To make matters worse, he is coming off his best performance of the tournament having neutralised the Struff serve and breaking it 6 times to post a dominant win. Fritz was also a straight sets winner in his 4th Round match against Machac but his history against Novak leaves him with a mountain to climb. Djokovic has a 10-0 lifetime record against the American and has won 17 of the last 18 sets they have contested. You would think that Fritz has an edge on serve but it is the Serbian that has had more aces in 4 of their last 6 battles. The power level off the ground for Fritz is a mere 5% of where it needs to be to trouble Novak and he also does not make his presence felt at the net. This allows the 24-time major champion to get into a rhythm – a scenario where he is at his absolute best. Have Novak covering the line and setting up another battle with Alcaraz.
Bet: Djokovic -2.5 ($1.80)