Astana Open: Alexander Bublik vs. Soon-Woo Kwon 9/25/21 Tennis Prediction

Second seeded Alexander Bublik will face Soon-Woo Kwon in the Semi-Finals of the 2021 Astana Open. The match is scheduled to be played on Saturday September 25th, 2021.

Alexander Bublik is the second seed here at the 2021 Astana Open and is considered the big favorite for the title here given the Round of 16 loss of top seeded Aslan Karatsev. The Kazakh has been outstanding so far this week and will be very eager to win the title here on home soil. He will next face the Korean Soon-Woo Kwon, a very surprising Semi-Finalist who has also been in great form this week. Does he have what it takes to cause yet another upset, sending Bublik packing in his home tournament? Or will the top seed win here as expected and advance to the Final?

Alexander Bublik is the second seed here at his home tournament in Astana, Kazakhstan and he will be highly motivated to win the title here. One of the most talented and enigmatic players on tour, Bublik has recently matured greatly as a player and does not lose his focus as much as he used to, concentrating on the tennis instead of external factors. After receiving a First Round bye he was pushed to the limit by Miomir Kecmanovic, dropping the first set before eventually winning 7-5 in the third. He then had an easy path to the Semis by defeating the Spaniard Carlos Taberner in two comfortable sets. We all know that he is capable of world class tennis and can challenge the world’s best on a good day. He hasn’t quite been at his best so far this week but with his talent and the home crowd behind him, he is the massive favorite here against Soon-Woo Kwon and is expected to advance to Sunday’s Final.

Soon-Woo Kwon is unseeded here at the 2021 Astana Open and is currently ranked #82 on the ATP Tour. The Korean #1 is a very talented player and big things are expected of him but he tends to struggle with consistency and mixes the good performances in with the bad. This week in Astana has been outstanding however, and he has advanced to the Semi-Finals for the loss of only one set. His Quarter-Final win over the experienced Laslo Djere was particularly impressive, as he won 6-0 in the third set in the match. He returned serve very well throughout that match and controlled the match from the baseline against Djere, who is much more at home on the clay. The Korean star will have taken a lot of confidence from this performance and while he is the huge underdog here, he knows that his opponent Alexander Bublik can be a bit complacent at times and will be ready to take advantage if it happens.

This will be the first meeting between the two players and I am expecting a comfortable win for Alexander Bublik. While he is known to be erratic at times, he has matured over the past few years and is a lot less likely to lose his focus. When he’s in form he can be considered among the world’s best, and he will be extra motivated to win here on home soil in Kazakhstan. Kwon is a very solid player with a bright future but he is not yet ready to compete with players of Bublik’s caliber, and I expect the Kazakh to win in straight sets here, advancing to the Final of his home tournament, the 2021 Astana Open.