Damien Kayat previews the ATP Tour selected matches between Danil Medvedev and David Goffin as well as Marin Cilic vs Alexander Bublik on 15 June 2022.
2022 ATP Tour
ATP 500 Series
Halle Open/ Cinch Championships
Selected Matches- 15th June
Halle Open- Round of 32 Match- Gerry Weber Stadion (Outdoor Grass)
Danil Medvedev (1) (19/100) vs David Goffin (7/2)
Danil Medvedev has returned to the top of the ATP rankings courtesy of his run to the Rosmalen final last week. It must be a somewhat bittersweet feeing for Medvedev.
Still yet to win a title this year, Medvedev’s ranking is largely a result of Djokovic’s early season hiatus. Medvedev lost the Aussie Open final in epic style and he won’t be allowed to compete at Wimbledon this year due to the current Russian ban. So, I don’t think Medvedev is going to be popping champagne bottles anytime soon.
Medvedev has still decided to play in these Wimbledon warm-up events despite the Russian ban. He reached the final last week only to be railroaded by Dutch wildcard Tim van Rijthoven. It’s fair to say that grass isn’t exactly Medvedev’s speciality.
Yet to go beyond the 4th round of Wimbledon in five attempts, Medvedev has a mediocre 28-15 record on this surface. Still, he did manage to win his maiden grass-court title in Mallorca last year. His huge serve allows him to win plenty of cheap points. His movement on the surface has shown gradual improvement and it’s a real pity that he doesn’t have the chance to compete at SW19 this year.
Former World No.7 David Goffin has one thing to his credit going into this match against Medvedev: he has won a title in 2022. Goffin won the 6th title of his career at the Grand Prix Hassan II.
He also pushed clay-court demigod Rafa Nadal to three brutal sets in Madrid. He has actually played some really solid tennis entering this portion of the year. And he has previously shown sporadic signs of life on this surface. In fact, Goffin beat Medvedev in spectacular fashion at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships.
In that same year he reached the final of this event. Goffin may not have the artillery of Medvedev. But he is an arch-competitor who will look to take advantage of any weakness.
The Verdict: Medvedev to win in three at 26/10- Medvedev leads the head-to-head with Goffin 2-1. Interestingly, all three of those matches came in 2019.
As I noted earlier, Goffin managed to pick up that crucial Wimbledon victory. This could be closer than it looks on paper. Medvedev has never been an uber-consistent grass-court player and Goffin’s nuggety persistence could frustrate the Russian. But I still expect the current World No.1 to prevail in three.
Cinch Championships- The Queen’s Club, London (Outdoor Grass)
Marin Cilic (7) (4/11) vs Alexander Bublik (9/4)
Even in his wildest dreams, I doubt that Cilic could have envisaged his success in Paris. The 33-year-old has always struggled to translate his all-round success to clay. To reach his maiden Roland Garris semi-final at this stage of his career was fairly remarkable.
He became only the 5th active player to reach the semi-finals of all four Majors. If Cilic was capable of that on his least favourite surface- what could he do on his favourite? The 2017 Wimbledon finalist is one of the most consistent grass-court players on the planet. He is a four-time Queens finalist (winning the title in 2012 and 2018).
He also won the Stuttgart title last year. His big serve combines with an explosive forehand for the ultimate one-two punch on this surface. But he looked ropey in his opening match against Liam Broady. Perhaps that was a natural comedown following his exploits in Paris.
Alex Bublik has enjoyed a rather frustrating season. The talented Kazakh player has been steadily improving over the past couple of years. He reached the 3rd and 4th finals of his career in 2021.
He then went one better earlier this year, winning his maiden ATP Tour title in Montpelier. One could have been forgiven for thinking this could be the springboard for further success. But he has been woeful since capturing the Open Sud de France title, winning just six of 18 matches going into this event. But perhaps his fortunes have changed. He was leading Lorenzo Musetti by a set before the Italian had to withdraw due to injury.
This means he will be fresher than Cilic after the Croatian had to dig deep against the unheralded Liam Broady. Bublik is a powerful baseliner who just lacks a bit of variety. But it’s interesting to note that he has had some grass-court success, reaching his maiden ATP Tour final at the 2019 Hall of Fame Open.
The Verdict: Cilic to win in three at 14/5 – Cilic leads the head-to-head 2-0. Curiously, both of those victories came at the ATP 1000 event in Rome.
I think that Bublik could be quite competitive here. There is certainly a potential for burnout as Cilic recovers from an arduous clay-court campaign. Bublik had a terrible clay-court season (which should theoretically leave him pretty fresh going into this match).
Bublik could sneak a set off Cilic with his aggressive groundstrokes. But Cilic’s metronomic serve- which worked so brilliantly in Paris- could prove the difference.
