Holger Rune may finally have some momentum back on his side and he will try to keep it going against Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the Basel quarterfinals on Friday. Meanwhile, Ugo Humbert is facing Swiss hope Dominic Stricker.
(1) Holger Rune vs. Tomas Martin Etcheverry
Rune is currently No. 8 in the race to the Nitto ATP Finals and he is trying desperately to hold off a whole host of contenders who still have a realistic shot at a Turin spot. The 20-year-old Dane has opened the door in a major way with a 1-8 record in his last nine matches dating back to Wimbledon, but he has finally strung together back-to-back victories at the Swiss Indoors Basel over Miomir Kecmanovic and Sebastian Baez.
Up next for Rune in the quarterfinals on Friday is a third meeting with Etcheverry–first on the main tour and first away from clay. Etcheverry rolled 6-3, 6-0 at a 2020 Futures event in Switzerland before Rune prevailed 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 at a 2021 Challenger tournament in Italy. Etcheverry has really made a name for himself in 2023, with 29 of his 33 ATP-level match wins coming this season–including runner-up performances in Santiago and Houston plus a quarterfinal run at the French Open. Nobody has been better than the 32nd-ranked Argentine so far in Basel, as he booked a quarterfinal place by beating Andy Murray and Sebastian Korda. Given Rune’s struggles and another medical timeout for an arm issue on Thursday against Baez, this is a great opportunity for Etcheverry.
Pick: Etcheverry in 2
Ugo Humbert vs. (WC) Dominic Stricker
Humbert and Stricker will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers on Friday. Every other Swiss player in the field was ousted in the first round, but Stricker is doing his best to salvage the week for the home crowd. The 21-year-old opened with a 7-6(2), 6-2 win over qualifier Benjamin Hassan before upsetting No. 2 seed Casper Ruud in a third-set tiebreaker on Thursday. Thus continues a great second half of the season for the world No. 96, who made a run to the U.S. Open fourth round that included a victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas.
On an indoor hard court, however, Humbert will likely be an even tougher test than Ruud despite the fact that the Frenchman is unseeded. Humbert has been on fire in recent months, with six trips to at least the quarterfinals since Wimbledon–including at the Shanghai Masters and now in Basel following defeats of Marcos Giron and Nicolas Jarry. The world No. 28 is 3-0 in tiebreakers this week and that kind of clutch tennis should serve him well in what is almost certain to be a competitive, high-quality contest with Stricker.
Pick: Humbert in 3
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Rune in 3; Humbert in 3.