Rotterdam QF previews and predictions: Auger-Aliassime vs. Medvedev, De Minaur vs. Dimitrov

A blockbuster quarterfinal battle in Rotterdam pits Felix Auger-Aliassime against Daniil Medvedev on Friday. The winner will run into either Alex de Minaur or Grigor Dimitrov, who are both unseeded.

(6) Daniil Medvedev vs. (3) Felix Auger-Aliassime

Auger-Aliassime and Medvedev will be going head-to-head for the fifth time in their careers when they clash in the quarterfinals of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament on Friday. This is the first time that Auger-Aliassime is the higher-ranked player heading into the matchup, but Medvedev still has to be considered the favorite. After all, the 27-year-old has won all four of their previous encounters–all on hard courts and two in straight sets. Their most recent meeting was the most memorable, with Medvedev coming back from match point down to prevail 6-7(4), 3-6, 7-6(2), 7-5, 6-4 in the 2022 Australian Open quarters.

Current form doesn’t really favor either player, as both are struggling. Auger-Aliassime was just 3-2 this season before arriving in Rotterdam and he has the pressure of defending 500 points from last year’s title. Medvedev lost to Sebastian Korda in the Aussie Open third round, but his only other loss in 2023 has come to Novak Djokovic in Adelaide. The world No. 11’s confidence should be on the rise following a 6-2, 6-2 destruction of Botic van de Zandschulp on Thursday, so look for him to be too consistent and get too many balls back for Auger-Aliassime.

Pick: Medvedev in 3

Grigor Dimitrov vs. Alex de Minaur

De Minaur has been without question one of the most impressive players so far in this stacked Rotterdam field. The 25th-ranked Aussie opened with a 6-4, 6-4 defeat of No. 2 seed Andrey Rublev and then beat Montpellier runner-up Maxime Cressy 7-5, 3-6, 6-3.

Up next for de Minaur on Friday is a fourth career contest against Dimitrov, who trails the head-to-head series 2-1. The Bulgarian rolled through their first meeting at the 2019 U.S. Open, but De Minaur has since won two in a row (in three sets at the 2020 Antwerp event and 7-6(4), 7-5 at last summer’s Toronto Masters). Dimitrov has also played well this week, earning his spot in the quarters with victories over Aslan Karatsev and Hubert Hurkacz. This should be a fun one complete with long rallies featuring awesome athleticism, but right now De Minaur plays even better defense than Dimitrov and is more solid off the ground–especially from the backhand side.

Pick: De Minaur in 2