Adelaide International: Bautista Agut vs Kokkinakis Tennis Prediction

TennisSection previews the 2023 Adelaide International 2 as Roberto Bautista Agut takes on Thanasi Kokkinakis in the semifinal on Friday, January 13, 2023.

A clinical performance by Roberto Bautista Agut in the quarterfinal means that he is now two matches away from winning his 12th ATP Tour title. But the Spanish veteran will face his biggest test of the week when he takes on defending Adelaide International 2 champion Thanasi Kokkinakis. Who will prevail?

After struggling for large patches in his second-round match against Robin Haase, Roberto Bautista Agut found his range and was in top gear in dismissing countryman Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the last eight. The 34-year-old Bautista Agut loves playing his best tennis in the first month of the new season. He has won titles in Auckland and Chennai in the build-up to the Australian Open before and has the experience to get him past the finish line at the Adelaide International. But will he withstand the challenge of in-form Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis?

Thanasi Kokkinakis entered the Adelaide International 2 with a wildcard. But there were no question marks on whether he was getting one due to his low ranking. The flamboyant Aussie is the defending champion at his home tournament and has repaid the tournament organizer’s faith in him, by upsetting the top seed Andrey Rublev in an epic in the second round. Kokkinakis has since gone on to account for another seed, beating Miomir Kecmanovic 6-3 6-7 6-1 to reach his first semifinal since winning this tournament in 2022.

Roberto Bautista Agut and Thanasi Kokkinakis have not played each other on the ATP Tour. Friday’s semifinal at the Adelaide International 2 will be their first official meeting. This will be a fascinating battle. Bautista Agut is not the kind of player you would pick against when he faces lower-ranked opposition. But Kokkinakis is currently playing Top 20 level tennis this week. He has already accounted for two seeds, and if he continues to serve as well as he did throughout the week, not even one of the best defenders in the game, in Bautista Agut, will stop him.