Stan Wawrinka vs Max Purcell Prediction & Betting Tips - Cincinnati, USA

Prediction published on 17/08/2023, 05:30  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 17/08/2023 at 06:26 in Tennis Predictions

We're guaranteed an unseeded player in the last eight of the Western & Southern Open. Wild card Stan Wawrinka takes on qualifier Max Purcell in this outdoor hard court tournament in Cincinnati. The winner will have a match against either top seeded Carlos Alcaraz or 12th seed Tommy Paul in the quarter finals. Stan Wawrinka has been making steady progress back up the rankings this year. The former world number three (achieved back in 2014) began this year in 148th place but was up to 51st at the start of this Masters tournament. His run to the last 16 has seen him climb to 47th and a win over Purcell could take him back into the top 40. The 38-year-old recently reached the final in Umag but that was on clay. On hard courts he's made it to two quarter finals this year in Rotterdam and Marseille. He also got to the last 16 at Indian Wells, beating Holger Rune in that tournament. Wawrinka was given a wild card for this Masters tournament and is bidding to reach the last eight in Cincinnati for the first time since 2018. To get this far, the Swiss player has beaten Brandon Nakashima in three sets and then defeated tenth seeded Frances Tiafoe in straight sets.

Max Purcell had to go through the qualifying rounds to get into the main draw. The world number 70 lost the first set in both of his qualifying matches but eventually beat Luca van Assche and then fellow Australian Alexei Popyrin. Both those opponents were seeds in the qualifying rounds. That took Purcell into a first round match against Lloyd Harris who he beat 6-4 6-4. Purcell caused a shock in round two when beating the fifth seeded Casper Ruud in three sets (middle set lost). The wins have taken him up to 54th in the live rankings, his highest ever position. Most of his year has been spent on the Challenger Tour. In fact, he won three successive titles in February, all in India but didn't beat anyone ranked in the top 130, Three more runners-up spots have been achieved but he's had barely any success on the ATP Tour until this month. Purcell beat Felix Auger-Aliassime in Toronto before losing to Andy Murray.  This should be a tight match but we believe Wawrinka is in the better form and can reach the last eight.