2024 Queen’s Club Championships Semifinals Schedule and Preview: Paul and Korda set for All-American showdown

ATP
Saturday, 22 June 2024 at 11:24
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The semifinals of the ATP 500 Queen’s Club Championships are set to begin this Saturday, June 22, and the organization has defined the schedule. Tommy Paul is the main favorite among the competitors after ending Jack Draper’s streak in an exciting quarter-final duel and remains the only top-20 player still in the draw.

He will face an all-American duel against Sebastian Korda, one of the players in top form during the grass swing. In the second semifinal, Jordan Thompson and Lorenzo Musetti will face off in a bid to return to an ATP final.

Thompson faces Musetti in bid for third grass final

The first match of the day will be for the Australian Jordan Thompson (No. 43) against Lorenzo Musetti (No. 30). The Australian is in the semifinals of a tournament for the second time this year, after winning his first title in February at the Los Cabos Open.

Thompson has surpassed his matches this week despite not being the favorite in any. In the first round, he defeated the 7th seed Holger Rune (4-6, 7-6, 6-3) and then faced the 5-time Queen’s champion Andy Murray, who retired in the first set when Thompson was leading 4-1. In the quarterfinals, his victim was the 4th seed Taylor Fritz (6-4, 6-3).

Thompson seeks his third final on grass, after being runner-up in s’Hertogenbosch 2019 and 2023. At 30 years old, the Australian can also reach his best ranking as world No. 31 if he advances to the final.

This will be his second meeting against Musetti, who won in straight sets in their first match at the Adelaide International earlier this year. The Italian reached the semifinals last week at the ATP 250 Stuttgart Open and repeats the same at Queen’s, achieving a record of 6-1 on grass this year.

The Italian comes from a straight-sets victory over the local wildcard Billy Harris and earlier left behind Brandon Nakashima and the second seed Alex De Minaur. Musetti has a 12-8 (60%) record on grass courts and had never reached a final in a grass tournament. If he defeats Thompson, he will advance to world No. 25 and seek his third professional title.

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All-American clash between Paul and Korda

World No. 13 Tommy Paul is the only seeded player remaining in the competition and, at least in terms of ranking, the main favorite to win the title. Paul has shown solid play this week and comes with confidence after ending the seven-match winning streak of local favorite Jack Draper, the recent champion at the Stuttgart Open who had just defeated Carlos Alcaraz in the previous round.

The American had previously eliminated South Americans Sebastian Baez and Alejandro Tabilo, both in straight sets. Paul will seek his way to the third final of the season (title at Dallas Open and runner-up at Delray Beach). He will face his compatriot Sebastian Korda, who survived Rinky Hijikata.

Korda leads the number of wins so far in the grass swing with 7 victories, tied with Jack Draper. The world No. 23 defeated this week Karen Khachanov (No. 22), the third seed Grigor Dimitrov (No. 10), and Rinky Hijikata (No. 98).

Last week, he reached his first final on grass, although he fell for the fifth consecutive time in a final. He currently leads the head-to-head against Paul 4-1, with his last victory being precisely last week at the Libema Open s’Hertogenbosch.

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