Singapore Open 2021: Marin Cilic vs Kwon Soon-woo preview, head-to-head & prediction

Match details

Fixture: (3) Marin Cilic vs (8) Kwon Soon-woo

Date: 26 February 2021

Tournament: Singapore Tennis Open

Round: Quarterfinal

Venue: Singapore

Category: ATP 250

Surface: Indoor hardcourt

Prize money: $300,000

Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | India - Discovery

Marin Cilic vs Kwon Soon-woo preview

Third seed Marin Cilic talked on eighth seed Kwon Soon-woo in the quarterfinals of the Singapore Tennis Open on Friday.

Cilic, a former US Open champion, has found it difficult to maintain his top 10 status over the last few years. He has had a less than ideal start to the 2021 season too.

Cilic started his season with a first-round loss in the Melbourne tuneup event, at the hands of Jeremy Chardy. The Croat then lost to eventual quarterfinalist Grigor Dimitrov in the first round of the Australian Open.

That said, Cilic has got off to a solid start in Singaopore, defeating Taro Daniel 7-5, 6-4 to set up the match against South Korea's Kwon Soon-woo.

Kwon Soon-woo

After coming close to the top 60 in 2020, Kwon went on a bit of an underwhelming run in the latter stages of the year. But the South Korean has bounced back well on the Challenger tour, beating highly touted local favorite Lorezo Mussetti in the final of the Biella event last week.

Kwon's second-round opponent in Singapore did not bother him much either; the 23-year-old beat Yasutaka Uchiyama in straight sets on Thursday.

Marin Cilic vs Kwon Soon-woo head-to-head

The quarterfinal matchup in Singapore is the first professional meeting between Marin Cilic and Kwon Soon-woo, so their head-to-head currently stands at 0-0.

Marin Cilic vs Kwon Soon-woo prediction

Kwon Soon-woo

Marin Cilic's superior ranking makes him the favorite on paper for the match against Soonwoo Kwon. But Kwon's recent triumph on the hardcourts of Biella will have given a lot of confidence, making this a potentially problematic matchup for the Croat.

Kwon possesses excellent footwork and defensive skills, and hardcourts are by far his best surface. Cilic will look to use his big serve and flat groundstrokes to his advantage, but Kwon has the ability to hit through the 32-year-old too.

Although Cilic's game seems well-suited to the surface in Singapore, he could easily succumb to Kwon given the Korean's recent track record.

Prediction: Kwon Soon-woo to win in three sets.