The two Queen’s Club semifinals feature an incredible combined age difference of thirty years. Feliciano Lopez (37) will try to keep his run going at the expense of Felix Auger-Aliassime (18), while Gilles Simon (34) faces Daniil Medvedev (23).
(8) Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. (WC) Feliciano Lopez
Lopez has been enjoying success on grass as long as Auger-Aliassime has been alive. Auger-Aliassime has been enjoying success on grass for the last 11 days. But 11 days may be long enough to cement the 18-year-old Canadian as the odds-on title favorite heading into the Fever-Tree Championships semifinals on Saturday. He is up to No. 21 in the rankings and climbing, with a runner-up performance last week in Stuttgart–the first grass-court tournament of his career–followed by impressive Queen’s Club wins over Grigor Dimitrov, Nick Kyrgios, and Stefanos Tstisipas.
There will be a 19-year age difference on the court when Auger-Aliassime faces Lopez for the first time. Lopez, 37, captured the title at this event in 2017 and he is turning back the clock as a wild card ranked No. 113 in the world with defeats of Marton Fucsovics and Milos Raonic (plus a walkover from Juan Martin Del Potro). The Spaniard had previously been 3-8 at the ATP level this season, but grass has always been just what the doctor ordered to get his game in gear. On any other surface this would likely be a rout; this one will be at least somewhat competitive, but a huge edge in current form goes to Auger-Aliassime and the eighth’s athleticism and return skills will likely result in too many balls coming back into play for Lopez.
Pick: Auger-Aliassime in 2
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(4) Daniil Medvedev vs. Gilles Simon
Medvedev and Simon will be squaring off for the second time in their careers on Saturday. Their only previous encounter came two years ago on the red clay of Lyon, where Simon prevailed 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-2. Since then, however, Medvedev has soared into prominence. The 23-year-old Russian is up to No. 13 in the world and he will be sixth in the race to London following this week’s festivities. Medvedev has bounced back from a brief slump by beating Fernando Verdasco, Lucas Pouille, and Diego Schwartzman so far at Queen’s Club.
Although Simon has been going in the other direction in recent seasons, the 34-year-old Frenchman has remained relevant enough to snag a seed at Wimbledon. He accomplished that feat by outlasting Nicolas Mahut 7-6(5), 5-7, 7-6(3) on Friday, when a loss would have left him unseeded at the All-England Club. The world No. 38 preceded that result with three-set victories over James Ward (also in a deciding tiebreaker) and Kevin Anderson. Simon has to be somewhat fatigued, and this probably isn’t a great matchup for him even at 100 percent. They wield similar styles of play, with Medvedev younger, moving better, and hitting bigger especially on serve and with his backhand.
Pick: Medvedev in 2
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FAA and Medvedev both in two to meet in the final. FAA to win the title, as no one except the big three in the final could stop him, and maybe Berritini. Medvedev doesn’t impress me lately to pick him over FAA, maybe Simon would have a chance if not for his long match vs Mahut.
Tsitsipas was full of praises for FAA just because he couldn’t beat FAA, saying that FAA playing like that could beat the big three. The thing is, FAA is/was beatable as he’s losing in the SFs and finals that he had reached so far! It’s just that Tsitsipas himself is not good enough to beat FAA, blame it on himself, he doesn’t have enough tools to deal with FAA! Don’t compare himself to the big three, he’s no where near them! Even an old Fed could beat Tsitsipas! And, all the big three had beaten Tsitsipas this year!
I’m afraid Tsitsi may become a new Zverev…in sense that everyone expected him to become a top player, maybe the younger version of Djokovic, but until now he didn’t make it up to the expectations. Zverev, Thiem, Kyrgios, now Tsitsi, just can’t be compared to the big 4. They may win a few slams, but nowhere close to the big 4. I hope I’ll be wrong and at least one of them will become a great tennis player, with at least 4-5 slams in total.
At least we still have FAA!
I like Tsitsipas but lately he’s getting more and more unbearable, he thinks hes already there with the big three just because he has beaten them once each and he’s inside the top ten now.
He’s getting a bit arrogant these days, saying the big three’s dominance at the slams is getting boring, hoping the young gen guys could upset the order and hopes that he himself be the one to topple them.
Sure, having self belief is good but that has to be backed with some solid results. Yes, he did beat Fed at the AO but he had to go the distance to do so, and then what happened? He got a shellacking from Rafa in the SF! At the FO, he went the distance against Stan and lost, both times he was really upset with himself.
He should be analysing where he went wrong and tried to improve, instead of talking big.
He couldn’t beat FAA because FAA is quicker than him, more powerful than him, serves better than him, has a better BH than him and most importantly, FAA is smarter than him-he’s calm and calculating, takes his time to serve and plans his moves (not unlike Rafa)!
Tsitsipas has good court craft but he tends to rush and be too eager to attack that he can be careless (though not as reckless as Shapo), sometimes diving unnecessarily (I suspect his shoulder hurts due partly to all those reckless diving on court!).
If he wants to beat FAA, he has to do so with patience, with finesse, and of course time his shots well! His BH misfired so often here, with the ball hitting his racket frame so many times! He has to use his FH more often instead of hitting so many CCBHs – moves his legs to hit some DTL shots instead of going CC so often. Tsitsipas needs to improve his ROS (the young gen these days don’t come with good ROS, can’t find anyone like Djoko, Murray, Rafa, not even half as decent as them in the ROS!)
I do feel that FAA may become the best player among these youngsters. Tsitsipas may beat all the others but may find FAA his nemesis during his career, not unlike Fed vs Rafa.
What happens to Shapo? He’s supposed to be very talented and promising but until now, he has nothing to show and is overshadowed by Tsitsipas and then by the younger FAA, both are ahead of him in the rankings. FAA has already reached a few finals and may win at Queens, a 500 event; Shapo hasn’t reached a final if I’m not wrong.
FAA has had a very impressive start on the ATP tour for an 18 yo, but that’s all it is as yet. A start. Let’s wait a bit before declaring him the second coming of … whoever. I do like his mentality so far. His serve did crumble v Isner in the spring but I haven’t seen that happen again. Yet. He also hasn’t actually won a tournament. Yet.
Nobody thinks he’ll be better than the big three in time to come. I mean who could replicate what any of the big three have done?
We are just comparing the young guns vs the young guns and speculate who among them will become the best. Also, there are a few promising ones leading the way, so they may be the big three or four among their generation going forward.
I doubt any of the young gen will win a slam this or even next year, because, the big three are still around and at the top of the rankings, winning all the last ten slams played and not looking to stop winning slams any time soon. Tsitsipas and his young gen peers may just have to wait longer not unlike Dimi or Thiem’s generation of players.
No, everyone else thinks he’s already there and put him on a pedastal. He’ll be a great grass courter one day but it will take another season or two.
No, not everybody. He can beat his fellow young gen peers but he’s losing to the more established players (he has 13 losses so far this season). On grass he lost to Berrettini who’s not known to be an established grass court player; he may beat López and then whoever in the final to win Queen’s, but Wimbledon is totally different, several steps up and I don’t think he’s going to do well there – BO5 and seven matches and many more big fishes there.
FAA has yet to prove himself at the slams, he didn’t go far in any yet and I doubt he’s going to do much damage this Wimbledon.
We’ll see. FAA hasn’t even played a slam yet! He failed to qualify for AO and got injured just before RG so no clue how he’ll do in 5 setters. Not “many more” big fishes there. Djokovic and Rafa and Fed of course. Isner, Anderson and Raonic are all question marks this year. Cilic looks like a spent force. FAA will be seeded above top 20. I think he’ll go to the round of 16, at least.
Well, there are more players who are more experienced than him at the slams; as I’ve mentioned, FAA hadn’t proceeded far at the slams yet, so in BO5, a Cilic or a Anderson may still do better than FAA.
FAA played last year’s US Open
Really hoping for a FAA vs Medvedev final. Picking both guys in 2 sets.
Also hoping FAA takes a break and this is his last tournament until Wimbledon.
FAA in 2 and Simon in 3
Auger-Aliassime 2-1 (Dont be surprised of Lopez causes a boilover, there’s not much separating these 2 and Lopez is very hard to beat at Queen’s when serving well. It’s great to see players perormfing at this level well into their 30s).
Medvedev in 2 (if the same Medvedev turns up I dont see how he doesnt win this 2-zip. He has more power than Simon on serve and groundies, is better at the net and is just as consistent from the back of the court)
So Goffin beats the red hot Berrettini; let’s see the how the other older players fare against their younger opponents. Well done Goffin!
Berrettini wasn’t red hot today. A complete contrast to the player of the past 2-3 weeks.
Goffin is one of the best returners and was on today. How many great returners has Berrettini faced lately?
How’s your lucky Benny; berretinni comes out and plays his worst match in a month and Simon comes out and plays his best.
Buy a lottery ticket. You can’t lose.
Medvedev has beaten far less impressive opponents to get here and Simon is a very accomplished grass courter (former Wimby quarterfinalist and just made Round of 16 last year). And Goffin is very good on grass too. Berrettini played a good first set and here’s the thing. He’s been playing out of his mind. You can’t expect him to keep playing at such a high level all throughout the season. I don’t think Berrettini played poorly, he just wasn’t an absolute machine like he had been on his winning streak. Goffin will do that to you with his style of play too. Tennis is all about matchups
Lopez has won Queen’s twice, done well at Wimbledon and has a much superior grass court record than Auger-Aliassime.
How come you picked Auger-Aliassime to win 2-0?
far superior player, great on grass so far, well-rested, Lopez shoulder falling off
Lopez is 37 years old dude. It was a sensible pick
Yeah , a lot of these players on a hot streak, but we’ll see how they do over five sets.
Medevdev wont win the final, not if Simon makes him work like this for 2-3 sets.
Simon may even win this SF. Simon is like a poor man’s version of Murray, very difficult to shake him off even for the big three;nobody likes playing against him except maybe Murray.
Very true, Lucky. Simon is definitely a player that almost nobody wants to face. He pushed both Fed and Djoko to 5 sets at a major before. He doesn’t look like a guy that should hard to overcome- he always looks to me like his ankles might break at any moment! He’s just sneaky good. I also remember him giving Fed a hell of a match in the Shanghai final a few years back. How’s he fared against Rafa? Has he ever troubled him at all?
Yes, one year at Rome, in 2014 I think and that’s on clay! But, among the big three, Rafa fares better against Simon.
Simon: A hell of a match against Fed at RG , also. Not bad for a player not supposed to be good on clay
“Medvedev in 2” “Simon is exhausted” “Medvedev is a better version of Simon”
What a joke of a prediction. I’m so glad I didn’t bet on this shit of a match. All in Auger-Aliassime to win the title.
anyone who thought Medvedev would lose to Simon was being ridiculous
nice prediction on Felix, by the way!
Come on Ricky, I had my reasons!! 😄
Allez Gilles!! Knew he could pull it out. Not gonna lie, I want him to win this tournament. Do I think he will? Ehhh probably not. Looks to me like FAA is primed for the title. But it would be awesome to see Simon grind his way to just a second ever ATP 500 title at the age of 34.
Not giving Feli a chance? Feli looking good so far in this ongoing SF; it’ll be great to see Simon vs Feli, that means the young guns just have to wait! The old fellas are not done yet!
Feli playing beautiful grass court tennis, choosing the right moments to rush the net and when he’s there, he’s guarding his side of the net so well! What serving to save BPs and holds serve!
Yeah he is so fun to watch on grass. Would be a great moment if he made the final as well. Two vets squaring off in the final at such a prestigious event.
Not looking likely now, he lost the first set and I doubt he has the fitness to win the next two sets. FAA looking strong physically.
Feli fares better than Tsitsipas against FAA, perhaps Tsitsipas should watch this match closely and see how Feli approaches the net on grass, and how well he serves too.
Break for Lopez 👀
Uh oh, Feli is supposed to play dubs with Andy Murray after his singles semi…if he has to go 3 sets…hope he’s in even better shape than he looks. If he pulls out of dubs he’ll be the most hated man in London!
he wont
Ha ha Feli breaks serve! FAA can serve big but he’s also prone to errors too on his serve. I hope this match goes the distance and Feli maybe can win it in the end?
Feli’s grass court game has so much finesse, plus he has a great lefty serve, so pleasing to the eyes. FAA can move well on grass and he has a big serve to help him to do well on grass but he doesn’t have the finesse in his game, at least not yet.
Grass surface very dangerous, I see Feli, FAA, Simon and Medvedev falling down on grass today. Have to be very careful when moving on grass!
Yeah. Grass may have just ended Del Po’s career for good 🙁
FAA just went down. No such thing as being careful enough never to fall on grass. Just be careful about how you fall, I guess.
But Fed hardly falls down on grass, I only saw it once or twice, that’s how well he moves on grass, Murray too, hardly falls down on grass.
Rafa was ok too but when moving on grass but he also slipped and fell at times; Djoko more often too.
Thank you auger for blowing my money
FAA lost his semi. YOU blew your money. Take responsibility.
How I wish Rafa has his lefty serve something like Feli’s; he’ll be ‘unbeatable’ with that serve!
I can’t believe Feli could just serve so well time and again to get out of troubles, unbelievable!
Yes, Vamos Feli! You’ve done it!
Wow, 37 yo beating the red hot 18 yo! Well done! So grass court tennis beats big serving hard hitting tennis, on grass!
I got my wish of having two veterans in the final! So, the old timers are still better than the young guns! Tstisipas is wrong, FAA is beatable, it’s just that Tsitsipas himself is not good enough to beat him! He should learn a thing or two from how Feli handles FAA – with unbelievable serving and the right approaches to the net and doing the right things when at the net!
FAA’s great ROS (according to Tsitsipas) couldn’t break Feli’s serve, not even once! FAA will beat the big three? Yeah right, but he has to wait.
FAA isn’t the second coming of Rafa! Or Federer. Djokovic, maybe. Anyway, big grats to Feli! When he signed up for doubles with Murray I bet making the singles final was the last thing on his mind.
Do you think FAA has a “best surface”? So far he’s looked very good on hc, grass and clay.
right now clay. in the long run probably hard.
I think it’s HCs (made the SF of Miami Masters). Clay? Well he didn’t make any impact at the clay Masters where the big boys were playing, made the finals at 250 and 500 events. He can play on grass with good movements and big serve and hard hitting, but I don’t think he’s any better than the other big hitters like Cilic or Delpo; or someone as agile as Goffin (and I’m not going to compare him to the big three when obviously he’s no where near them).
Of course he may improve and become better on any surface, it’ll be interesting to see how he fares on the various surfaces against his peers the likes of Sasha, Shapo, Tsitsipas, Medvedev etc.
High average age in both finals this week , says something about the different skill sets needed on grass , physicality less important. Great to see.
Endurance does or did though, the way Simon won against Medvedev.
Endurance? Simon’s game is like that, one more ball back .