Bulgaria Open: John Millman vs Ilya Marchenko 9/30/21 Tennis Prediction

Eighth seeded John Millman will face Ilya Marchenko in the Round of 16 of the 2021 Sofia Open. The match will take place on Thursday September 30th, 2021 at 5:00am EST.

Veteran Australian John Millman will come up against another experienced campaigner Ilya Marchenko, a rather surprising name to see at this stage but one that has been impressive so far. The Ukranian came through the Qualifying Rounds, defeating some tough opponents before making the most of his opportunity and winning his First Round match. John Millman has had some success on indoor hard courts before, and is in relatively good form heading into this match. Who will win the battle of the veterans?

John Millman has been ranked as high as the top 35 in the world a few years ago but has struggled recently, with his ranking dropping outside the top 50. As a player that relies so much on fitness and movement, as he ages and slows down his game is bound to suffer. He is still highly experienced and that makes him dangerous, especially on a surface that he has won a title on in the past. He had been in poor form recently but gave a solid performance at the Astana Open where he was the defending champion, reaching the Quarter-Finals. In his First Round match he defeated Mikael Ymer, a solid opponent and displayed some of the toughness that he is known for, being unusually aggressive from the baseline to overcome his younger opponent. He is the favorite here against fellow veteran Ilya Marchenko but may be in for a tough match even though he is ranked much higher. 

Ilya Marchenko is a Qualifier here at the Sofia Open, and beat Marco Cecchinato and Tomas Machac to reach the main draw. He then defeated veteran Italian Andreas Seppi in the First Round to set up this clash with John Millman. He is a veteran player who is approaching the end of his career, and is now ranked outside the top 150, with a career high of number 49. He is still a solid player but is mostly found on the Challenger Tour these days with the odd appearance on the main tour. He is a baseliner with a strong forehand, but he no longer has the power he once did and it will be very tough for him to compete at this level, although he has been solid here in Sofia so far. 

The two players have never met before so there is no head to head to go by, but I think that this match will be a comfortable win for John Millman. Neither of the men are the players that they used to be, but Millman is still capable of competing at this level and has the fitness to do so, while Ilya Marchenko does not. The Australian eighth seed is too consistent for his opponent and while he cannot be trusted as much as he used to be, he should win this match in straight sets to advance to his second Quarter-Final in as many weeks here at the Sofia Open.