It is a mostly surprising semifinal lineup at the Cinch Championships, where top seeds such as Carlos Alcaraz and Alex de Minaur have exited the premise. The last four men left standing are Tommy Paul, Sebastian Korda, Lorenzo Musetti, and Jordan Thompson.
Here are my previews and picks for Saturday’s two matchups.
Jordan Thompson vs. Lorenzo Musetti
The first semifinal between Musetti and Thompson marks their second meeting both overall and this season. The two unseeded entrants at Queen’s Club previously faced each other in Adelaide five months ago, when Musetti got the job done 6-4, 6-1. The Italian is now playing stellar grass-court tennis, which is a bit of a surprise. He advanced to the Stuttgart semifinals last week and is now in the semis this week following wins over De Minaur, Brandon Nakashima, and Billy Harris.
Still, grass is the last surface on which Musetti would want to play against Thompson. The 30-year-old Australian has won a whopping 66 matches on this surface throughout his career–including three this week at the expense of Holger Rune, Andy Murray (first-set retirement), and Taylor Fritz. If Thompson wins this match he will be seeded at Wimbledon. Expect it to happen.
Pick: Thompson in 3
(5) Tommy Paul vs. Sebastian Korda
The second semifinal is more of a marquee matchup, especially from an American perspective. Paul and Korda will be meeting for the sixth time in their careers and for the second time in the span of nine days. The just squared off in the ‘s-Hertogenbosch quarterfinals last Friday, when Korda rolled 6-4, 6-2. He now leads the head-to-head series. However, Paul–after losing the first three–won their most important match to date 6-0, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 at the 2022 U.S. Open.
After beating Paul last week, Korda finished runner-up to De Minaur in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. He has followed that up with Queen’s Club defeats of Karen Khachanov, Grigor Dimitrov, and Rinky Hijikata. Paul was a finalist last year in Eastbourne and is one win away from another grass-court title match following victories this week at the expense of Sebastian Baez, Alejandro Tabilo, and Jack Draper. The world No. 13 was especially impressive against an in-form Draper in the quarterfinals. This is a great opportunity for Paul to get revenge.
Pick: Paul in 3
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.
