After a great week of clay court tennis in the Moroccan capital, the semifinal round features two first time match-ups. David Goffin has played his best tennis of the season so far, but the Belgian faces a tough test in Federico Coria. Elsewhere, Alex Molcan has enjoyed one of the best weeks of his career, and the Slovakian has continued his fine form of late. However, his semifinal opponent Laslo Djere is an experienced player on the ATP Tour, and an ATP 500 winner on clay. Here are my predictions for Saturday’s semi finals
ATP Marrakech Semifinal Predictions
Head to Head: First MeetingLaslo Djere vs Alex Molcan
Laslo Djere has reached his first ATP Tour semifinal of the season this week in Marrakech. The Serb has struggled to produce his best form this season. This week is the first time that Djere has won back-to-back matches since Adelaide in January. Djere has clay court pedigree, having won the ATP 500 event in Rio in 2019. The Serb has had to battle through a tough draw to reach the semifinals. He defeated Rotterdam finalist Jiri Lehecka, Malek Jaziri, and Lorenzo Musetti without dropping a set. In his quarterfinal against the Italian, Djere only dropped five games, so he will be brimming with confidence.
Alex Molcan recorded the best win of his career this week, in defeating Felix Auger Aliassime in the round of 16. The Slovakian has shown impressive consistency of late, reaching the last 16 in Dubai, and the quarterfinals of the Marbella Challenger last week. As well as defeating Auger-Aliassime, Molcan recorded impressive wins over Stefano Travagilla and Botic van de Zandschulp.
This should be a close match and I think it will go to three sets. However, I think that Djere will record a tight three set victory.
Prediction: Djere in 3
Federico Coria vs David Goffin
Head to Head: First Meeting
This should be a close match. David Goffin has played his best tennis of the season this week in Marrakech. The Belgian has struggled to produce his best form in 2022. Goffin has only been able to win back to back matches in two ATP Tour events. However, Goffin has showed impressive resilience this week, coming back from a set down in his victories over Pablo Andujar and Roberto Carballes Baena, andespite not possessing a major weapon in his game, the Belgian has a exceptional return of serve and is still one of the best movers on the ATP Tour. Hopefully this week has restored the Belgian’s confidence and he can get back to producing his best tennis again.
Federico Coria has reached his first tour level semifinal of the season this week, having already reached two quarterfinals earlier this year in Buenos Aires and Rio. The Argentine recorded an impressive victory over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the opening round, and was made to work hard in his quarterfinal victory over Richard Gasquet. Coria is a dangerous player, particularly on clay and possesses a powerful forehand.
I think this will go to three sets. The Argentine has played more clay court tennis than Goffin this season and is in better form. I think he will get the win in three sets.
Prediction: Coria in 3
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