Top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime leads the field in the Estoril quarterfinals on Friday. He will take on up-and-coming American Sebastian Korda, while a red-hot Alejandro Davidovich Fokina battles Frances Tiafoe.
(1) Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. (8) Sebastian Korda
The top quarter of the draw’s seeds remained intact as No. 1 will battle No. 8 for a spot in the semifinals. Felix Auger-Aliassime might be the favorite on paper, but he has been in miserable form. The world No. 10 won Rotterdam and made the final in Marseille, and since then he’s barely managed to string two match wins in a row. He had a first-round bye this week, so he has won a single match (over Carlos Taberner) to earn his spot in Friday’s quarterfinal.
Sebastian Korda hasn’t had a great 2022 season. He delivered a thrid-round showing in Melbourne and then stumbled through a disappointing spring hard-court swing. He has come on a bit on clay, with an impressive win over Carlos Alcaraz in Monte-Carlo a few weeks ago. Korda has posted two solid victories this week over Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Benjamin Bonzi.
Korda is playing better on the dirt than Auger-Aliassime. The Canadian did not look too convincing in his three-setter against Taberner and his confidence from early this year seems to have deserted him a bit. Korda has a good shot at this one.
Cheryl pick: Korda in 3
Ricky pick: Korda in 3
(4) Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs. (5) Frances Tiafoe
Alejandra Davidovich Fokina, ranked 28th in the world, has been one of the breakout stars of the early European clay swing. The 22 year-old came somewhat out of nowhere to make the final in Monte-Carlo, where he lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas. Fatigue may become a factor as the long clay season wears on, but for the moment he is still riding a wave of confidence.
American Frances Tiafoe is the world No. 29. He came into this event with an even 7-7 record on the season. He hasn’t had any deep runs yet this year and it seems unlikely that his first would happen on a clay court; like most Americans, Tiafoe is most at home on hard courts. The No. 5 seed endured a pair of complicated three-setters against Dusan Lajovic and Nuno Borges to earn his spot against Davidovich Fokina on Friday.
Given their respective form — even with all the tennis Davidovich Fokina has played in the past couple weeks — the Spaniard should make his way into the semis.
Cheryl pick: Davidovich Fokina in 2
Ricky pick: Davidovich Fokina in 3
nice one, Foe