Marcos Giron vs. James Duckworth Prediction: American Has His Eyes for The Semi-Finals

On Friday, September 23, world no. 58 and number three seed Marcos Giron of the United States will face world no. 83 James Duckworth of Australia in the quarter-final round of the 2022 San Diego Open.

Giron is currently one match away from reaching his second semi-final of the season, more than seven months after reaching his first in Dallas.

He was granted a bye in the first round and a favorable second round draw against the Argentine, Tomas Martin Etrcheverry, the world number 89 and a guy more at home on clay.

Giron broke early in the first set and seemed to be in cruise control when he served for it. Etcheverry then stunned him by breaking back, but his joy was short-lived, as Giron broke again the following game to win the set.

Three of the opening four games of the second set were against serve, but at the end of that run, the American was down a break. From then, all he had to do was retain his cool and concentrate to win the match.

It has been almost a year exactly since Duckworth reached his first ATP final, finishing runner-up at the Astana Open in Kazakhstan.

He has not had a moment like that so far in 2022, although, earlier this month, he was the beaten finalist in a Challenger event in France.

However, he has made his way to the last eight in San Diego after two contrasting matches.

The first was against a man he knows well, Alexei Popyrin, and, for two sets, it was a closely fought contest, until Duckworth got took control in the third, and ran away with it.

In the second round, he faced qualifier Mitchell Krueger, who is presently ranked 228th in the world.

Duckworth made the lone break in the first set, although he had to fight hard to close off the match, needing four set points before he did.

The duo then traded breaks early in the second set, but with nothing else separating them, the match proceeded to a tie-break.

Krueger started well, taking an early three-point lead, but couldn't maintain it as Duckworth utilized all of his expertise to come out on top. And when he was given with a match point, he wasted no time.

Giron will already have one eye on the semi-finals in San Diego, and if he can avoid complacency against Duckworth, he should easily defeat the Australian.

• Total Over 22.5 for 1.83
• Handiсap James Duckworth (+2.5) for 1.91
• European Handicap 0:3 James Duckworth for 1.91