Rinky Hijikata vs Jordan Thompson Prediction & Betting Tips - Surbiton, Great Britain, Qualifying

Prediction published on 09/06/2023, 02:05  by Daniel Ngulu in Tennis Predictions

Unseeded players Rinky Hijikata and Jordan Thompson will on Friday meet in the quarterfinals at the Surbiton Trophy. Hijikata is down nine places to 127th in the live ranking despite earning 25 ranking points from his last match. The Australian defeated seventh seed Ilya Ivashka in straight sets to advance to this round. Hijikata is yet to drop a set in Surbiton though the match against Ivashka saw him play seven games in both sets. The win was his 19th of a topsy-turvy campaign that has seen him win just three more matches than he has lost. One of his 16 losses saw him go down in straight sets to Thompson in Gwangju in what was their first-ever meeting. He will hope for a different outcome this time around. The winner of this match will advance to play either fifth-seed Jason Kubler or second-seed Andy Murray in the semifinals.

Jordan Thompson defeated Hijikata on his way to winning the Gwangju Challenger, his second title of the season so far. He will hope for more of the same on Friday against his compatriot especially as he is the defending champion here. Thompson won last season’s edition and has also been a losing finalist here back in 2017. He has won 14 of the 17 matches he has played in the competition so far. His latest win came against Zachary Svajda in the second round where he won in straight sets. Thompson is also yet to drop a set in Surbiton. The win over Svajda moved him back into the top 100 where he is currently placed at number 96 in the live ranking.