Top seed Daniil Medvedev will continue his title quest in Vienna when he faces fellow Russian Karen Khachanov in the quarterfinals on Friday. Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev are also taking the court.
(5) Alexander Zverev vs. (3) Andrey Rublev
Rublev clinched a spot in the Nitto ATP Finals with his Erste Bank Open quarterfinal win over Matteo Arnaldi on Thursday. The fifth-ranked Russian joins Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, and Jannik Sinner in Turin. Rublev’s qualification was basically never in doubt at any point this year, but he has come on especially strong of late. The 26-year-old made a run to yet another Grand Slam quarterfinal at the U.S. Open, finished runner-up to Hubert Hurkacz at the Shanghai Masters, and so far in Vienna has defeated Arnaldi and Alexei Popyrin in straight sets.
Up next for Rublev on Friday is a tough matchup with Zverev, who leads the head-to-head series 5-2. Rublev is actually 2-0 against Zverev in 2023 after losing every one of their first five matches, but those results came a while ago in Dubai and Bastad. Now more than a year removed from his 2022 French Open ankle injury, Zverev is once again in peak form. The 10th-ranked German’s Asian swing included a title in Chengdu and a semifinal showing in Beijing, and he booked his ticket to the Vienna quarters by blitzing both Sebastian Ofner and Cameron Norrie in straight sets. Rublev will obviously give it his all in this one, but having already clinched a spot in Turin the motivation level may be diminished ever so slightly. Look for Zverev to restore order to his previous dominance in this matchup.
Pick: Zverev in 3
(1) Daniil Medvedev vs. (8) Karen Khachanov
It will be an all-Russian affair when Medvedev and Khachanov square off for the sixth time in their careers on Friday. Medvedev has won four of their five encounters, most recently getting the job done twice in the early stages of this season–6-3, 6-3 in Adelaide and 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-3 at the Miami Masters. They have split two indoor contests; Medvedev prevailed at the 2017 NextGen ATP Finals before Khachanov won in three sets at the 2018 Moscow event.
It’s hard to bet against Medvedev given his history of success in this matchup and his edge in current form. The world No. 3 is an amazing 62-14 this year following Vienna victories over Arthur Fils and a red-hot Grigor Dimitrov. Khachanov did well to ease past both Roman Safiullin and Jiri Lehecka in straight sets, but he had been just 1-3 in four matches since lifting the Zhuhai trophy and he has not defeated anyone ranked better than 31st in the world since the Madrid Masters in May. Medvedev also has the advantage on an indoor hard-court surface, so this should be mostly one-way traffic in favor of the top seed.
Pick: Medvedev in 2
WWW?
Agree: Zv in 3; Med in 2.