Donaldson vs. Isner
John Isner continues his quest for an unprecedented ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title. As we predicted in our Day 4 analysis, Frances Tiafoe couldn’t find the answer to John’s powerful serve with the 32-year-old American ending the match with a phenomenal average of 2.25 aces per service game. Known as one of the toughest opponents in the game, Isner holds an outstanding 72.73% winning record on his 11 previous apperances on Masters 1000 quarter-finals.
Regardless of this Friday’s outcome, Jared Donaldson already secured his career-high ranking next week. Known as one of the most promising young players on the ATP World Tour, the 20-year-old is for the first time in the quarter-finals of a Masters 1000 event. Taking a look now at Donaldson’s campaign on this event, the American reaches this stage of the competition after a 6 – 4 7 – 6 win over Nikoloz Basilashvili.
This will be the 2nd career meeting between these two players with Isner emerging victorious from their previous encounter at the Queens Club in 2015.
Despite Donaldson’s unquestionable quality, it won’t be easy for him to defeat his fellow countryman on these fast conditions. As we mentioned before, the courts in Cincinnati are perfect for John’s powerful serve. Adding to this, none of his previous opponents was able to break Isner’s serve. With this in mind, Isner deserves to be the heavy favourite to win this match at 33/100 at William Hill while Bet365 offers 5/2 for Jared’s victory. Due to the low price on John’s moneyline, we’ll go once again with his -1.5 Set Handicap at 93/100 at Pinnacle as the most valuable play for this contest.
Best Play: John Isner -1.5 Set Handicap at 93/100 at Pinnacle
Dimitrov vs. Sugita
At the age of 28, Yuichi Sugita is going through the best moment in his career. Besides winning his first ever title on the ATP World Tour in Antalya, the Japanese holds an outstanding 37 – 16 record in 2017. Famous for his exceptional return to serve, Sugita won 31.70% of his opponents’ service games in Cincinnati. Adding to this, the world no.46 reaches this stage of the competition after two terrific comebacks against João Sousa and Karen Khachanov.
Against our expectations, Grigor Dimitrov proved too strong for Juan Martin Del Potro in a match where the 28-year-old Argentinean couldn’t compete at his best due to health problems. Despite his victory, Dimitrov keeps far from impressive with 24 winners and 26 unforced errors. Adding to this, the Bulgarian ended the match with a poor average of 0.45 double faults per service game but Del Potro was only able to convert 20.00% of his break point chances.
These two players are no strangers with Dimitrov leading on the h2h by 1 – 0 after his 5 – 7 7 – 6 6 – 4 win over Sugita at the 2016 Rogers Cup.
As the h2h suggests, Sugita is far from an easy match-up for Dimitrov. Adding to this, the Japanese is playing his best tennis ever. Having said that, the value is definitely on Yuichi’s tennis betting odds at 3/1 at Ladbrokes while Dimitrov is available at 31/100 at 5Dimes. Besides the value on Sugita’s moneyline, placing a bet on his +1.5 Set Handicap at 51/50 at Pinnacle is also an interesting approach for this match.
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