Adelaide’s top three seeds are all in action in Saturday’s semifinals, as Karen Khachanov takes on Marin Cilic and Gael Monfils battles Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis. It’s Kokkinakis’ appearance in the last four that is surprising.
(2) Karen Khachanov vs. (3) Marin Cilic
Croatian veteran Marin Cilic ended his 2021 season in stellar form. He had a couple of great tournaments in Russia, including a trip to the final in Moscow and a title-winning run in St. Petersburg. The 33-year old actually dispatched Saturday opponent Karen Khachanov en route to his second title of the year. Cilic picked up a pair of straight set wins over Thiago Monteiro and Laslo Djere to earn his semifinal berth.
Khachanov finished his 2021 season without a title, although he came away with the silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics. The 29th-ranked Russian was also the winning half of one of the most bizarre matches of 2021, a fourth-round thriller at Wimbledon against Sebastian Korda that featured 13 breaks of serve in the fifth set alone.
Khachanov has lost to Cilic both times they have played. The Russian dispatched Steve Johnson and Egor Gerasimov en route to the semifinals. With Cilic playing well and on the Croat’s preferred hard courts, this one should go his way.
Cheryl pick: Cilic in 3
Ricky pick: Cilic in 3
(1) Gael Monfils vs. (WC) Thanasi Kokkinakis
Aussie wild card Thanasi Kokkinakis is most certainly the surprise of the tournament. The injury-prone world No. 171 hardly played tennis in 2019 and 2020 due to both a troublesome ankle injury and the greatly abbreviated 2020 campaign because of COVID. He spent 2021 largely on the Challenger circuit, attempting to boost his ranking–with limited success.
Yet here Kokkinakis is in Adelaide making the most of the wild card he was awarded. He took out John Millman, Frances Tiafoe, and Mikael Ymer en route to the semis for his best run in years. Unfortunately for the Aussie, he runs into an in-form Gael Monfils on Saturday.
The Frenchman has been ruthlessly efficient this week. He hasn’t come close to dropping a set, dispatching both Juan Manuel Cerundolo and Tommy Paul with ease. While Kokkinakis will have the support of the crowd, it’s hard to imagine Monfils losing this one. He’s both moving well and hitting the ball cleanly.
Cheryl pick: Monfils in 3
Ricky pick: Monfils in 2
WWW?
Monfils and Cilic in three
Knov in 3; Monfils in 2.