Queen’s Club QF previews and predictions: Medvedev vs. Schwartzman, Raonic vs. Lopez

Seeded players Daniil Medvedev and Milos Raonic will try to book semifinal spots at Queen’s Club on Friday. Standing in their respective paths are unseeded Diego Schwartzman and 37-year-old wild card Feliciano Lopez.

Diego Schwartzman vs. (4) Daniil Medvedev

Schwartzman was a laughable 1-8 lifetime on grass prior to this week’s festivities at the Fever-Tree Championships. “Futbol” was the first thing that came to the Argentine’s mind when he thought about grass, he admitted. That was until his improbable run at Queen’s Club, where his focus has been on tennis and his results–amazingly enough–have been positive. Schwartzman defeated qualifier Alexander Bublik 6-2, 6-3 in his opener and then upset defending champion Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday.

Although this one won’t be easy, the draw doesn’t necessarily get tougher with Medvedev now on the other side of the net. The 13th-ranked Russian, after all, was on a five-match losing streak prior to this week. Needing some momentum in the worst way before Wimbledon begins, Medvedev righted the ship by trouncing Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 6-4 on Monday. He proceeded to avenge a loss last week in Stuttgart by beating Lucas Pouille 7-6(9), 6-7(5), 6-4 in round two. Medvedev’s style of play should work well on grass and Schwartzman’s sample size of success on the green stuff is obviously quite small. Asking the world No. 23 to triple his career grass-court win total in the span of one tournament may be too much.

Pick: Medvedev in 3

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(WC) Feliciano Lopez vs. (6) Marin Cilic

It has been an eventful week for Lopez, who needed a wild card just to get into the main draw due to his ranking of No. 113 in the world. The 37-year-old finally got in his first-round doubles match with Andy Murray, as they won their much-anticipated, rain-delayed opener on Thursday evening. That was preceded by Lopez being both lucky and good in singles. He overcome Marton Fucsovics 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4 in round one before getting a walkover from Juan Martin Del Potro.

Up next for Lopez on Friday is an eighth career contest against Raonic, who trails the head-to-head series 4-3. Ironically, the Spaniard also got a walkover in the Queen’s Club second round last year–from none other than Raonic. Thus they have not faced each other since the 2015 U.S. Open, when Lopez won his second in a row over the Canadian by prevailing 6-2, 7-6(4), 6-3. Like it has been for his opponent, this week has already been extremely positive for Raonic. The world No. 18 was a question mark to even play after withdrawing midway through last week’s Stuttgart event due to a back issue, but he has recovered to defeat Marco Cecchinato and Aljaz Bedene in straight sets. Although Lopez is obviously accomplished on grass, a healthy Raonic on this surface has an edge over almost anyone–and certainly over someone outside the top 100.

Pick: Raonic in 2

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