This week of dueling ATP 500 tournaments in Basel and Valencia is one of the best on the annual tennis calendar. Among the players in action are Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Novak Djokovic, Ben Shelton, Arthur Fils, Rafael Jodar, and Taylor Fritz.
Here are my predictions for the quarterfinals onward at each of the two events.
Swiss Indoors Basel
Where: Basel, Switzerland
Surface: Indoor hard
Prize money: 2,584,155 Euros
Points: 500
Top seed: Ben Shelton
2025 champion: Joao Fonseca (not playing)
Picks
Quarterfinals: Ben Shelton over Jiri Lehecka, Novak Djokovic over Nuno Borges, Hubert Hurkacz over Rafael Jodar, and Alex Michelsen over Taylor Fritz
Semifinals: Djokovic over Shelton and Hurkacz over Michelsen
Final: Djokovic over Hurkacz
Erste Bank Open
Where: Vienna, Austria
Surface: Indoor hard
Points: 500
Prize money: 2,797,585 Euros
Top seed: Alexander Zverev
2025 champion: Jannik Sinner (not playing)
Picks
Quarterfinals: Frances Tiafoe over Brandon Nakashima, Learner Tien over Flavio Cobolli, Daniil Medvedev over Jakub Mensik, and Carlos Alcaraz over Tommy Paul
Semifinals: Tiafoe over Tien and Alcaraz over Medvedev
Final: Alcaraz over Tiafoe
who ya got?
Shelton and Alcaraz (picked at the start )
ouch
I know. Shelton starting to look like the title winner. Fast court too. This time of year is a joke
Looking forward though to Indian Wells 2. I love it