TENNIS: Preview of Weekend Event: The End of the Cinch Championships
The Cinch Championships, also known as the Queen’s Club Championship, is one of two ATP 500 grass court tournaments taking place this week and one of the few grass court events leading up to Wimbledon, which begins on July 1. The tournament began with three of the top-10 ranked players in the world, including Carlos Alcaraz, but all three were ousted by the third round. Here’s a quick recap of the action thus far and a look ahead to this weekend’s potential betting matchups.
Early Round Recap
Alcaraz, the top seed in the tournament and recent winner of the French Open, won his opening match against Francisco Cerundolo, but then was upset 7-6 (3), 6-3 by Jack Draper in what was one of the biggest upsets of the year in the second round. Draper is now into the quarter-finals on Friday and will play fifth seed Tommy Paul, who has wins over Sebastian Baez and Alejandro Tabilo.
Alex de Minaur, the second seed in the tournament, lost his opening round match in three sets to Lorenzo Musetti, who is also into the quarter-finals after beating Brandon Nakashima in the second round. Grigor Dimitrov lost his second-round match against Sebastian Korda, which set up a wild and unexpected quarter-final.
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Quarter-Final Rundown
Jordan Thompson and Taylor Fritz met early Friday in the first of four quarter-finals with the winner advancing to play the winner of Musetti and wildcard Billy Harris who, along with Draper, is one of two Brits left in the tournament. Harris, 29, is in his first career ATP quarter-final and had just one career victory on the ATP Tour before this week. He also has a wildcard for Wimbledon.
Draper and Tommy Paul play in the third quarter-final on Friday and the winner will advance to the semi-finals to meet the winner of Korda and Aussie qualifier Rinky Hijikata, who has upset wins over Frances Tiafoe and Matteo Arnaldi.
Finals Predictions
This tournament has been littered with upsets, so it wouldn’t be surprising if that trend continues into the weekend. The most unlikely outcome would be a final between Harris, the 156th-ranked player in the world, and Hijikata, who earned one of four qualifying spots in the event. However, if betting the outright markets, Fritz is probably your best bet – assuming he wins his early quarter-final match on Friday.
Fritz was 2-0 in his prior two matches against Thompson and is having one of the best seasons of his career at 26-11. He won his eighth career title at Delray Beach earlier this season and has a very favorable path to the final. This could be an all-American final too as both Paul and Korda are on the other side of the bracket. Paul and Fritz met in the final in Delray Beach earlier this season.
Finals Pick: Fritz def. Paul in three sets