Match of the Day: Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Vasek Pospisil, Marseille

Until his ATP ranking catches up with his phenomenal run of form, world No. 98 Vasek Pospisil is a floating land mine in every draw he enters. He sits as the 14th best tennis player in the world according to his UTR rating, and it’s easy to see why.

Since October, Pospisil has beaten Diego Schwartzman, Fabio Fognini, Denis Shapovalov, David Goffin, Daniil Medvedev and Hubert Hurkacz. Five of those six Top 30 victories were in straight sets. On Friday in Marseille, he’ll look to claim his third Top 10 victory in as many weeks, against defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas, who would surely rather face anyone else in the draw.

After triumphing at the 2019 ATP Finals, Tsitsipas has started the year with a puzzling 4-4 mark. Yet, the 21-year-old is a substantial favorite to win his quarterfinal over Pospisil, despite being upset last week in Rotterdam by world No. 47 Aljaz Bedene. Tsitsipas has been struggling against big servers in 2020, falling to Nick Kyrgios, Milos Raonic, and Denis Shapovalov. None of these are bad losses, but Pospisil is playing better tennis than all the above to start the year.

Tsitsipas will need to hit his passing shots well if he is to avoid another upset. Few players cover the net as well as a healthy Pospisil. He is coming in the first chance he gets, no matter the opponent.

“I’m moving better than I have in the last five years,” Pospisil said after his throttling of Daniil Medvedev in Rotterdam. “I thought I lost my movement, thought I was never gonna get it back, thought I was getting old and that was it.”

Despite what the oddsmakers think, all signs point to another Pospisil victory. An indoor hard court is by far the Canadian’s best surface, so look for Pospisil to pressure the Tsitsipas backhand to no end en route to scoring another big victory.