Our man Danny Archer has enjoyed a great week on the tennis picking winners galore in the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals and he now looks ahead to the business end of the tournament which today sees two cracking semi-finals take place live on Sky Sports Arena.
Borna Coric 4/9 vs Andrey Rublev 33/20 - Coric to win 4/9, Over 24.5 Games 22/25, Coric to win First Set 13/20, Under 6.5 Games First Set 3/4
The first semi-final is a real humdinger as top seed Andrey Rublev takes on fourth seed Borna Coric. The latter has enjoyed a stellar week in Milan, winning all three games in the group stages. He registered a comfortable victory Jared Donaldson in his opening match before overcoming stern resistance from fellow semi-finalist Daniil Medvedev to win in four sets. However, his most impressive victory arguably came last night as he rallied from two sets down to defeat Karen Khachanov. That was a huge performance from the Croatian given Khachanov needed to win to qualify for the semi-finals and Coric had already assured his berth in the semis. With that in mind, I think Coric could prove tough to beat tonight. He'll be looking to maintain his unbeaten run in the competition thus far and that makes him a worthy favourite.
It would be folly however to discount Andrey Rublev. With Alexander Zverev's defection, he is the highest ranked player in the competition being the world number 37. He has been taken to five sets in two of his three groups games though which I do think is going to catch up with him. The Russian scraped past late entry and home favourite Gianluigi Quizi, ranked 306th in the world in a titanic five-setter on Tuesday, before being well beaten by Hyeon Chung in straight sets on Wednesday. Rublev did however show his battling qualities to get the better of Denis Shapovalov in a cracking five-set game last night edging the Canadian in a final-set tie-break. However, that does leave me feeling that the 20-year-old could be rather fatigued for his first meeting with Coric and I'm willing to take him on this game.
Hyeon Chung 7/20 vs Daniil Medvedev 43/20 - Chung to win 7/20, Over 23.5 Games 4/5, Chung to win First Set 4/9
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This should be a superb battle. Remember the name Hyeon Chung. He has cantered to the semi-finals in Milan dropping just three sets along the way. The 21-year-old dispatched Denis Shapovalov in four sets on Tuesday, finishing that match really strongly. He was then ruthless against top-seed Andrey Rublev on Wednesday with a devastating straight-set victory dropping just four games. Chung had already qualified for the semi-finals before taking on Gianluigi Quinzi last night. He overcame the Italian in a five-set thriller and hopefully he doesn't feel any ill-effects from that match. Chung possesses a wonderful game with a strong focus on groundstrokes and a effective serve. He moves round the court very well and I expect him to prove very tough to beat in not just this match but the tournament.
Daniil Medvedev is a really classy operator and he has played well this week to reach the semi-finals. He beat fellow Russian Karen Khachanov in his first match of the tournament, rallying powerfully after losing the first set to win in four. He then played well against Borna Coric but ultimately lost in four sets. Another four-set victory over Jared Donaldson yesterday provided Medvedev with a place in the semi-finals and he will pose a creditable challenge here.
Archer's Ace - Coric and Chung both to win - £30 Returns £58 with Unibet
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