Seeds Casper Ruud and Flavio Cobolli have safely advanced to the Delray Beach quarterfinals and will continue their title bids on Friday. They will face Sebastian Korda and Coleman Wong respectively.
Sebastian Korda vs. (2) Casper Ruud
Ruud and Korda will face each other for the third time in their careers when the two sons of former pros battle for a spot in the semifinals at the Delray Beach Open on Friday. The head-to-head series stands at 2-0 in the Norwegian’s favor, giving the Ruud family an overall 3-0 lead (Christian defeated Petr in their only meeting at the 1999 Miami Open). Korda at least managed to be competitive on Stockholm’s indoor hard courts last fall, falling 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4.
Delray Beach gives Korda a perfect opportunity to get over the hump. This is a home tournament for the Florida native and he is 8-2 lifetime in Delray Beach with a second-place finish in 2021. So far, the world number 50 has dismissed Mackenzie McDonald and Alex Michelsen in straight sets this week. He is 8-2 in his last ten matches, with a second-place finish at the San Diego Challenger and a Dallas quarterfinal loss to Taylor Fritz in a third-set tiebreaker. Ruud was decent but unspectacular in a 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-4 win over Marcos Giron on Wednesday night, so don’t be surprised if unseeded Korda advances.
Choice: Korda in 3
Coleman Wong vs. (3) Flavio Cobolli
Cobolli secured a much-needed victory on Wednesday when he ended a four-match skid with a 7-5, 6-4 defeat of Terence Atmane. The 20th-ranked Italian showed signs of returning to a seven-match losing streak suffered at exactly the same time last year, from the United Cup through to the Indian Wells Masters. Cobolli wasn’t even competitive in matches against lower ranked players in Melbourne, Montpellier and Dallas, but he managed to turn things around against Atmane.
Next up for the third seed is a first-ever showdown against Wong, who has already had an excellent week. The 21-year-old from Hong Kong successfully qualified for the main draw and went on to upset both Nuno Borges (7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3) and Brandon Nakashima (straight sets). Success in Florida is nothing new for Wong, who defeated Ben Shelton en route to the third round of the Miami Masters last year. Sound another upset alarm.
Choice: Wong in 3
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