Christian Garin vs Alexei Popyrin Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Japan Open

Prediction published on 17/10/2023, 07:22  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 17/10/2023 at 08:23 in Tennis Predictions

Qualifier Christian Garin bids to reach the last eight of the Tokyo Open. Standing in his way is unseeded Alexei Popyrin with the winner up against top seed Taylor Fritz or wild card Shintaro Mochizuki. Garin was ranked 94th at the start of this hard court tournament but is up to 83rd in the live list. The Chilean had a battle on his hands to get into the main draw. His final qualifier saw him have to come from a set down to beat Rinky Hijikata who was the top seed in qualifying. That took him into a first round match against wild card Sho Shimabukoro, again going to a final set but dropping the middle one on this occasion. Garin was as high as 17th in the rankings two years ago but has struggled with injuries. He hasn't won two matches in the main draw of an ATP Tour tournament since the Rome Masters (on clay) in May. His best hard court result this year was making it to the last 16 at Indian Wells.

Alexei Popyrin is in 41st position in the latest rankings list. He's up to 37th in the live rankings and that's three places above his career high. The Australian reached the last eight in Cincinnati winning five matches to get to that stage. Form has dipped since then with four consecutive losses before he beat the seventh seed Karen Khacanov in the first round of this tournament. Only six games were lost in that shock victory. He'd relish the chance to take on Taylor Fritz in the next round as he defeated him in the Australian Open this year. If he can play as he did against Khachanov then Popyrin has a great chance of making it into the next round.a