The 2019 ATP Japan Open quarterfinals will be played on Friday, October 4 with Novak Djokovic in action, and you can find the Novak Djokovic v Lucas Pouille & David Goffin v Hyeon Chung tips, previews and predictions below along with some other matches.
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Novak Djokovic v Lucas Pouille Predictions & Preview
In what will be a repeat of the Australian Open and Cincinnati Masters match-up between these two, Novak Djokovic will take on Lucas Pouille in the quarter-final at the Japan Open today. And Pouille will hope to win his first ever set against the world number one.
Djokovic was in a murderous touch at the Australian Open and steamrolled past Pouille in the semi-final, winning 6-0, 6-2, 6-2. The next time they face off in Cincinnati wasn’t this bad for the world number 24 Frenchman but he still went down in straight sets. Can Pouille now push Djokovic into a third, especially given the Serb is coming off a shoulder injury and might be slightly iffy about it.
The Serb, however, has made it amply clear he feels very good about his shoulder and that should not just be a warning for the Frenchman. Those who were looking at snatching the top-ranked position from him will also hope they can lift their game to a level above Djokovic but for now they will probably be watching him intently in what could be his first major test of the tournament.
Because the wins against Alexei Popyrin and Go Soeda were very much on expected lines but Pouille, despite his struggles this year, could prove to be a handful.
Tip: Djokovic to win in three sets: 7/2 with Unibet
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David Goffin v Hyeon Chung Predictions & Preview
World number 15 David Goffin should think he has a great chance of making it to the semi-final when he takes on surprise opponent and Korea’s Hyeon Chung in his next match at the Japan Open. And why I say surprise is because Chung, a former Next Gen star and 19th-ranked player has now spiralled down the ladder and is 143rd in the world.
And playing against Marin Cilic in the previous match, he should have been sent packing but won in three sets to complete back to back three-set wins. Incidentally, to be fair to him, Chung had shown signs of sparkle at the US Open too when he qualified for the main draw and then won a couple of rounds before going down to Rafael Nadal in the third.
Before that, he had been playing at the lower-level competitions, trying to build up enough points to even make it to the qualifiers of events. Goffin, on paper, shouldn’t have too many issues but in their only meeting on hard court surface, Chung has beaten him. It came at the Montreal Masters in 2017 and in straight sets.
Goffin, however, has had a decent time on hard courts this year with a 15-9 win-loss record. There was a fourth round appearance at the US Open where he went down to Roger Federer after having made the final at Cincinnati too. He should power his way past hi sopponent in this one.
Tip: Goffin to win in straight sets: 13/10 with Unibet
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Reilly Opelka v Yasutaka Uchiyama Predictions & Preview
Another one of those surprise match-ups between unseeded Reilly Opelka and Japanese qualifier Yasutaka Uchiyama. Opelka defeated fellow American seventh seeded Taylor Fritz in the first round before knocking out Gilles Simon in two tie-breakers. On the other hand, Uchiyama was a shock winner over the fourth seeded Benoit Paire before edging past Radu Albot.
This will be the first time these two will be facing off at the highest level and Opelka should really fancy his chances here. Because this is just the second ATP tournament in the entire season in which Uchiyama has won a match in the main draw, having first done so in Brisbane in the beginning of the year.
And while Uchiyama is already at his career-best ranking of 136th, Opelka’s solid showings recently including a semi-final at Atlanta, make him a favourite in this one.
Tip: Opelka to win: 11/17 with Unibet
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John Millman v Taro Daniel Predictions & Preview
Australian qualifier John Millman will be up against the second Japanese player in the quarter-final, Taro Daniel, and this will be their fourth meeting. Millman leads 2-1 on head to head with their latest match-up coming in 2018 at Winston-Salem where Daniel came through in straight sets.
Unfortunately for Daniel, who was once ranked 64th in the world, he hasn’t done too much of note this year before this tournament. There was a quarter-final at Marrakech and one at Geneva but he entered the Japan Open having seen a five-match losing streak once earlier this year. So much so he was forced to feature in Challenger competitions and needed a wild-card to make this tournament.
His win over Borna Coric was a shock result and he topped it with a 6-4, 7-6 victory against another Aussie Jordan Thompson. Now he faces Millman, who reached a season-high ranking of 36th in the world – three ranks higher than his best ever – but has since lost his way.
A title win at the Kaohsiung Challenger helped but he then went out in the first round at Zhuhai before this one in Tokyo. Needing to qualify for the event, Millman has now won four in a row to make it to the quarter-finals in which he starts off a bookmaker’s favourite. We are not sure the difference between these two players is as vast as 17/35 for a Millman win to 37/19 for his opponent.
Tip: Games Handicap Taro Daniel +3.5: 9/10 with Unibet
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