Max Purcell vs Andreas Seppi Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Eastbourne International

Prediction published on 23/06/2021, 12:01  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 24/06/2021 at 06:53 in Tennis Predictions

Misery has turned to joy in Eastbourne for both of these players. Max Purcell takes on Andreas Seppi in the last eight, not bad considering both have already lost a match in this tournament. Purcell lost to Ilya Ivaska in the final qualifying round, winning the first set and then taking just three games off his opponent in the next two sets. Meanwhile, Andreas Seppi was busy losing to Mikhail Kukushkin in straight sets. Little did they imagine that they would both be reinstated as lucky losers and end up meeting in the quarter finals!  Purcell hasn't played a great deal this year and didn't make it to the main draw in the Australian Open. His luck wasn't in when being drawn against eventual semi-finalist Aslan Karatsev in qualifying. He played just one more singles match before the grass court season began. That was in Nottingham where he lost to Aleksandar Vukic, who was ranked 209th at the time. He spends more time on the doubles circuit where he's ranked 43rd and is ranked 283rd in the singles.  After getting his reprieve and going into the main draw in Eastbourne, Purcell has beaten James Duckworth in three sets (middle set lost) and then number one seed Gael Monfils in three sets.

Andreas Seppi began this week ranked 95th in the world but up to 89th in the live rankings. Again, that rise wasn't expected when losing in the final qualifying round. His highest ranking is 13th but that was eight years ago His best run at Wimbledon was the fourth round that year losing to Juan Martin del Potro. Seppi is 37 now and 14 years older than his opponent. In February he got to the last four of a Challenger tournament in Italy. Better was to come as he won the tournament in Biella but didn't beat anyone in the top 100. Seppi rolled back the years at Roland Garros when beating world number 21 at the time, Felix Auger-Aliassime in the first round, before losing to Soonwoo Kwon in round two. A couple of wins came in the grass court tournament at Nottingham a couple of weeks ago. This week once becoming a lucky loser, he's had wins over Yoshihito Nishioka and Emil Ruusuvuori without losing a set. He has far more experience than his opponent and can win to reach a rather unexpected semi-final against either Lorenzo Sonego or Alexander Bublik.