ATP Tournament in Halle, Semifinals, Saturday, 18.06.2022
The highlight of his career at the ripe old age of 28, three semi-finals within a few weeks, victories against the big names – what Oscar Otte is currently achieving, even we at the betting friends cannot rate highly enough.
On Saturday, he will once again be reaching for his first final, but it’s a shame that he will be facing the best tennis player in the world.
In my Medvedev Otte tip I want to find out whether the ATP tournament in Halle might not be the scene of a bigger surprise and reveal why I don’t expect a decision too soon!
It won’t be long before Oscar Otte can look forward to another big step in the world rankings. In a few days he will be the new number 38, which is as good as he has ever been. At 28, he is in the best phase of his career.
Whereas nine months ago he surprised us by reaching the last 16 of the US Open, such results are now part of the standard programme. Munich, Stuttgart and Halle, at the third home tournament in a row, he also reached the semi-finals for the third time.
He has never reached a final on the ATP Tour, so Otte will be all the more nervous on Saturday. In Munich as well as in Stuttgart he had lost very narrowly (4-6, 4-6 and 6-7, 6-7) to the later champions Holger Rune and Matteo Berrettini.
In Halle, Otte showed from the start that it is a mistake to favour the player who has a better ranking. He started the tournament with a 6-4, 7-6 win over Miomir Kecmanovic before facing Nikolos Bassilashvili.
4-6, 6-0, 7-6, the three sets could hardly have been more different. Close results with tiebreaks are not always exactly what Ottes wants, but almost all of his matches end this way.
In the quarter-finals, he had to fight Karen Khachanov for a long time, the Russian simply did not allow a break. At 4-6, 7-6, 2-2, Otte fended off three break points, secured the advantage for himself and went into the decisive rallies with a lead.
He finally won the third set 6-4, so one break was enough. Khachanov had nine chances, but the German allowed a single point against him.
Although 22 aces are of course top, Otte was visibly nervous. He won just under 70% of the points on his first serve and had ten double faults; in the semi-finals, he cannot afford these lapses.
It will be his first duel with Daniil Medvedev, and the new betting companies do not see much chance for him. Although Otte has beaten many top stars recently, the world No. 1 seems to be hesitant.
Medvedev knows: While everyone else wants to get motivation and self-confidence for Wimbledon, he is not allowed to start in London. He obviously puts all the more power into his performances in Halle.
It is not a matter of course that he is serving so well here, because a few days ago in Hertogenbosch he was anything but in top form. He struggled his way into the final, but there he suffered an embarrassment against a certain Tim van Rijthoven.
However, he has not lost a set in the current tournament. After beating David Goffin 6-3, 6-2, he had to fight against Ilya Ivashka 7-6, 6-3, but in the end everything went well. Medvedev did not show any weakness in the quarter-finals either.
The world number one won 6-2, 6-4 against Roberto Bautista Agut, fending off all nine break chances of the Spaniard. He had already not allowed a point to be taken off his own serve against Ivashka and Goffin.
Anyone looking for a bad omen from Medvedev’s point of view can think back to last year. In his first participation in Halle, he lost to Jan-Lennard Struff, a German of all people!
My Medvedev Otte Tip
Will Oscar Otte finally make his first appearance in a final at his third attempt? He impressed against Khachanov with a fabulous comeback.
Daniil Medvedev is favoured, and rightly so after his recent performances. In my eyes, however, the German is not given enough credit. Medvedev could indeed be a tad stronger, but since I rate Ote’s performance very highly, I recommend the following tip:
Over 20.5 Games
