Sydney SF previews and predictions: De Minaur vs. Simon, Schwartzman vs. Seppi

It’s an all-seeded semifinal lineup in Sydney, where Australia’s own Alex de Minaur is looking to make a repeat appearance in the title match. De Minaur faces Gilles Simon on Friday, while Diego Schwartzman runs into Andreas Seppi.

(4) Gilles Simon vs. (5) Alex de Minaur

Simon has been an ironman throughout his career and nothing has changed in the early stages of 2019. The 34-year-old Frenchman is coming off a semifinal showing in Pune and he is through to the Sydney International semis following victories over Sam Querrey and John Millman. After scraping past Querrey 7-6(5), 6-7(6), 6-4, Simon outlasted Millman 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(3) in a baseline battle that lasted two hours and 42 minutes on Thursday night.

Up next for the fourth seed on Friday is a second career contest against de Minaur, who won their only previous encounter 6-7(1), 7-6(5), 6-2 this past fall in Tokyo. De Minaur, the 2018 runner-up in Sydney, reached the Brisbane quarters this past week and has maintained fine form with straight-set defeats of Dusan Lajovic, Reilly Opelka, and Jordan Thompson. Simon, who is already running on fumes, won’t want to compromise his Australian Open–for which he has a great draw near a slumping Jack Sock and an injured Alexander Zverev.

Pick: De Minaur in 2

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(8) Andreas Seppi vs. (3) Diego Schwartzman

Schwartzman also went the distance in his quarterfinal match, getting the best of Yoshihito Nishioka 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(1). The 19th-ranked Argentine, who earned a first-round bye as the No. 3 seed, preceded that result with a 6-2, 6-3 rout of Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. These are encouraging signs for Schwartzman, who had previously struggled in Australia (a combined 5-7 lifetime in Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne).

Friday marks the first-ever meeting between Schwartzman and Seppi, which the Italian set up by beating Jeremy Chardy, Martin Klizan, and Stefanos Tsitsipas. He needed three sets against both Chardy and the top-seeded Tsitsipas, most recently ousting the Greek via a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 decision. These two veterans feature similar styles of play, but Schwartzman is younger and faster while wielding slightly more firepower off the forehand side.

Pick: Schwartzman in 3

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