Zachary Svajda vs Emilio Nava Prediction & Betting Tips - Knoxville, USA

Prediction published on 10/11/2023, 07:22  by Oluwafemi Oyebade | Modified on 10/11/2023 at 08:34 in Tennis Predictions

Fourth seed Zachary Svajda takes on Emilio Nava (seeded fifth) for a place in the Challenger Knoxville semi-finals. The winner will face unseeded opposition in the last four of this hard court tournament, either Denis Kudla or Aidan McHugh. Svajda is up to a career-high equaling 139th position in the live rankings, and a win in this match will see move up as high as 132nd. The 20-year-old is the second highest remaining seed behind Alex Michelsen. He has recently won three Challenger Tour hard court events. So far in this tournament he has had two straight sets victories and his last five wins have all come that way. There's been one previous meeting between the pair in 2020 with Svajda winning in straight sets.

Fifth-seeded Emilio Nava has been struggling for his form. Leading into this tournament, the 21-year-old had lost three out of four matches including a loss to Ethan Quinn who was ranked 458th at the time. He was ranked 153rd at the start of this tournament and is up to 148th after this run to the last eight in Knoxville. His best recent performance was a last four appearance at the hard court Challenger Tour event held in Malaga last month. His one Challenger Tour title this year was won on clay but he has reached a final on this surface. Nava is also yet to drop a set in this tournament but has played weaker opposition than Svadja. We go for Svadja to win this in straight sets.