No.3 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina will face Italy’s Marco Cecchinato in the quarter-finals of the Estoril Open
Fokina has had an average year so far and is coming into this match after a hard-fought 6-3, 7-5 win against Luca Van Assche in the first round of the Estoril Open. The Spaniard hasn’t been in the best of form and suffered a second-round exit in his previous tournament – the Miami Open. His best performance so far this year came at the Indian Wells Masters last month, where he made it to the quarter-finals before losing to Daniil Medvedev.
Fokina is the No.3 seed in Estoril and is one of the favourites to go all the way and clinch the title. The 23-year-old will be aiming to put up a sublime display in Portugal and make this event a launching pad for the rest of the season.
Cecchinato is not a regular on the ATP tour and he has certainly expectations by progressing as far as the quarter-finals in Estoril. The Italian defeated his compatriot and veteran tennis star Fabio Fognini 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the earlier round to set up a clash against Fokina.
In his first-round encounter, Cecchinato defeated Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 7-6 to script a memorable win. The Italian is in a good run of form and will be aiming to cause a major upset against Fokina.
Details: Date – Friday, 7th April
Court Type – Clay Outdoor surface
Telecast – Tennis Channel
Start Time – To be announced
Location – Portugal
Match details – Quarter-finals
Cecchinato and Fokina have never played each other once before on the ATP tour. This is the first professional head-to-head clash between the two players. Fokina is the outright favourite going into this match both in terms of form and rankings. It will be an uphill task for Cecchinato in this encounter against the seventh seed but he is expected to pose a tough challenge. However, we expect the Spaniard to see off Cecchinato’s challenge and win in straight sets.
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