Johnson – Sela

Steve Johnson and Dudi Sela will square off on Friday in the quarterfinals at the lovely Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, the last ATP grass court tournament of the year.

Johnson has had a pretty good season so far, highlighted by his performances between February and May. However, the American hasn`t been that good on grass this year, winning just one match prior to Newport (vs Medvedev in Eastbourne), while losing to Paire (Halle), M. Zverev (Eastbourne) and Bemelmans (Wimbledon). Nevertheless Johnson did seem in good form in his first match in Newport, playing well to defeat Christian Harrison 6-3 6-1.

Dudi Sela has always enjoyed success at Newport, reaching the quarterfinals in each of his past 4 presences here. This year he was entering Newport in very poor form, riding a 4 match losing streak and playing just one match on grass (0-3 vs Nadal at Wimbledon). It has been a poor season overall for Sela, but Newport did wonders for him again, as he defeated 2 good players: the in form Bernard Tomic (6-3 1-6 6-2) and another Newport expert, Ivo Karlovic (7-6 6-7 6-2).

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This will be the first meeting between the two players. Both are good grass court players, but Sela does seem to have an advantage on the courts at Newport, where he played better than Johnson over the years.

It`s well known that Newport is a special tournament with its fast surface, tennis club atmosphere and old school courts. Certain players always tend to do well here, and Sela is one of them.

Although he never got past the quarterfinals, this will be his fourth QF showing in a row here, which is pretty impressive for a lower ranked guy that hasn`t had that much success at other ATP tournaments. His speed and pace work very well on the Newport courts, and he always enjoyed the old school atmosphere here.

As opposed to Sela, Johnson never really impressed in Newport. He did reach two quarterfinals in the past, so this will be his third, but that`s not saying much for a high ranked player who was always among the top favorites to win the event, while also usually having byes in the first round. He only has a 5-4 win/loss record here, one of his wins coming via retirement. That`s despite being a heavy odds favorite in all but one of his 9 matches at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships.

Johnson played well in his only match here against Harrison, but the younger Harrison brother didn`t offer much resistance. Sela played very well himself to beat an in form Tomic and of course Doctor Ivo Karlovic. He will pose more problems and it remains to be seen if Johnson will be able to maintain the same level, especially as he didn`t show a good level at all this season on grass.

If Johnson isn`t at his best, the speedy Sela could finally get over the quarterfinal hurdle at his favorite event in Newport, so backing him at the current odds looks like a good value bet. Prediction: Steve Johnson – Dudi Sela 6-3 6-7 4-6.

Pick: Sela
Odds: 3.48 @ 1xBet
Stake: 4
Possible profit: 9.92
Event date: 20 July