ATP Eastbourne tournament, quarter-finals, Thursday, 29.06.2023
Four finalists from the USA in the last three finals? At the ATP tournament in Eastbourne, one nation in particular has been very successful in recent years! We could see such a result again in 2023.
On Thursday night, the No. 2 seed will play his compatriot, is seen ahead by Bet365. Why I think at least one set will be damn close, I now reveal in my Wolf Paul tip!
Three wins in three tournaments? Admittedly, Tommy Paul hasn’t quite found his line on the fast grass yet. The US American now has a great chance in the quarter-finals at Eastbourne to finally go all the way again.
He started the tournament with a 6-1, 7-6 win over Sebastian Baez, allowing his opponent only one break chance. However, he did not always have everything under control, for example, only 55% of his first serves came over the net successfully.
On his second trip to Eastbourne, he wants to gain confidence for Wimbledon. Will he stay true to his relatively close results? In Stuttgart, for example, he was knocked out 6-7, 6-7 by Jan-Lennard Struff.
A little later in Queens he made it through the qualifying rounds, but in the first round of the main draw he was already eliminated by Francisco Cerundolo 6-7, 6-4, 4-6.
Four tiebreaks in his last four matches on grass is quite a feat. The world number 17 will now play compatriot J.J. Wolf in the quarter-finals for the first time ever, and he is the favourite.
In our betting provider ranking 2023, the odds are relatively close, showing an average of 1.45 to 2.75. No wonder, after all, the outsider is listed at number 46 in the world rankings, that’s not SO bad by any means.
Jeffrey John Wolf, known only as “J.J.” in expert circles, has cracked the top 50 and naturally wants to establish himself there. He is making his debut here in Eastbourne and is now hoping to make it to the semi-finals.
When was the last time we saw him among the top four players of a tournament? At the beginning of February, he was in the semi-finals in Dallas, where he defeated two US players.
In Queens, in his first grass court match, he lost 6-7, 6-7 to Ben Shelton in the first round, which is as close as you can get. Here in Eastbourne on Thursday night, he is looking for his third win.
While the 6-2, 6-4 win over Tomas Martin Etcheverry was still quite sovereign, he needed much more strength in the round of 16. Against Luca Van Assche he came to a 6-2, 6-7, 6-1, took a short time out.
Although 81% of points won on the first serve is a strong figure, there is still room for improvement with six break points used in 14 chances. Three tiebreaks in the last two appearances? That’s reminiscent of his next opponent’s stats.
My Wolf Paul tip
A US American will make it to at least the semi-finals at Eastbourne, the bookies are leaning more towards Tommy Paul. In my eyes, both players are not yet 100% comfortable on grass, individually the favourite might be a bit stronger.
On both sides I could see that they like to get involved in close sets. Since I don’t see any big differences in terms of quality, I decide to recommend at least one close set and therefore bet:
We will see at least one tiebreak!
