St. Petersburg QF previews and predictions: Thiem vs. Medvedev, Shapovalov vs. Klizan

Dominic Thiem will be back in St. Petersburg action as he continues his bid for a spot in the Nitto ATP Finals, now set to face Daniil Medvedev. Denis Shapovalov and Martin Klizan are also hoping to earn a place in the last four.

(1) Dominic Thiem vs. (8) Daniil Medvedev

Although Thiem is by no means a force on indoor hard courts, his fall swing should conclude with a third consecutive trip to the Nitto ATP Finals. Such is his current lead over the other contenders for the final spots. And the eighth-ranked Austrian’s fall swing is off to a decent start, as he followed up a first-round bye at the St. Petersburg Open with a 7-6(4), 6-4 defeat of Jan-Lennard Struff on Thursday. Thiem is now 45-15 for the season, which includes a recent quarterfinal run at the U.S. Open.

This marks the first professional meeting between the two players and the first, according to Thiem, since they squared off in 14s age group of junior competition. A three-year age gap (Thiem is 25, Medvedev is 22) won’t matter as much now for the Russian, who is a stellar 31-19 at the ATP level in 2018 and up to 35th in the rankings. Red hot this summer with a title in Winston-Salem and a U.S. Open upset of Stefanos Tsitsipas, Medvedev has advanced in St. Petersburg by beating Joao Sousa and Mikhail Kukushkin in straight sets. This is a good opportunity on an indoor hard court for the underdog to pick up a big win in front of the home crowd.

Pick: Medvedev in 3

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(7) Denis Shapovalov vs. Martin Klizan

It will be an all-lefty showdown when Shapovalov and Klizan go head-to-head for the first time in their careers. Klizan is ultimately aiming for his seventh career ATP title and his third on indoor hard courts, and that effort is off to a strong start. The 65th-ranked Slovak booked his spot in the quarterfinals with straight-set victories over Evgeny Donskoy and No. 2 seed Fabio Fognini, improving to an impressive 17-6 on the main tour in 2018.

Shapovalov did not exactly set the tennis world on fire this summer like he did in 2017, but he remains in stellar form. The 19-year-old Canadian registers at 34th in the rankings with 30 of his 44 career ATP-level match wins having come this season. Shapovalov won two matches each in Toronto, Cincinnati, and at the U.S. Open, and he has done the same in St. Petersburg by ousting Adrian Menendez-Maceiras and Matteo Berrettini. This should be a fun one complete with awesome shot-making, but the seventh seed may have slight edge both in terms of current form and the surface.

Pick: Shapovalov in 3

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