Rinky Hijikata vs David Goffin Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Winston-Salem Open

Prediction published on 22/08/2024, 05:06  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 22/08/2024 at 06:06 in Tennis Predictions

Unseeded David Goffin is having his best run of the year on the ATP Tour in Winston Salem. He faces 16th seed Rinky Hijikata with the winner going into the last four of this hard court tournament. Who'll win? Find out in our match prediction.

The winner of this match will be up against either tenth seed Lorenzo Sonego or the 15th-seeded Pavel Kotov in the semi-finals. Sonego is the highest seeded player left in the tournament which has seen shocks galore this week.

David Goffin has climbed to 84th in the live rankings but that's still miles behind the career-best of seventh he was in seven years ago. The Belgian has won three matches to reach this quarter-final and he hasn't done that in an ATP Tour event since Wimbledon 2022.

He did get to the last eight in a Challenger Tour event last week though. This week, he's beaten Jaume Munar (in three sets) and then defeated the fifth seed Luciano Darderi in straight sets. Round three produced a straight sets win over 12th seed Arthur Rinderknech.

Rinky Hijikata bids to avoid becoming the third seed to lose to Goffin this week. He was 65th in the latest rankings and is now three places higher in the live list. The Australian is in his fourth ATP Tour hard court quarter-final of the year but is yet to progress any further.

He'd also been struggling for consistency with only five of his last 12 matches being won before this tournament. Three of those wins had come in qualifying matches. It's gone well for him in Winston Salem though but six sets have been played in two matches.

He has played Arthur Cazaux and Borna Coric and in both matches he lost the first set. We tip Goffin to win this match.