{"id":516252,"date":"2026-01-14T20:11:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T20:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/516252\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T20:11:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T20:11:12","slug":"atp-auckland-quarterfinal-predictions-including-shelton-vs-baez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/516252\/","title":{"rendered":"ATP Auckland Quarterfinal Predictions Including Shelton vs Baez"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ben Shelton and Sebastian Baez will meet for a second time at the ATP 250 in Auckland. The Argentine is a perfect 3-0 against American players this season, but Shelton won their only meeting when they played in this tournament three seasons ago. Who will reach the semifinals?<\/p>\n

ATP Auckland Quarterfinal Predictions
\nLuciano Darderi vs Marcos Giron<\/p>\n

Head-to-head:<\/strong> Darderi 1-1 Giron<\/p>\n

The results will indicate that Darderi hasn\u2019t won a lot on fast surfaces, but the Italian is coming off an impressive comeback win against former Auckland champion Alejandro Tabilo. And he did it by rallying from a set and a break down. Giron will be a step up in the quarterfinals. The American is 5-1 for the season. The only sets lost came up in the semifinal defeat in Hong Kong against eventual champion Alexander Bublik. Darderi is one of the most improved players on tour in the last 12 months, but Giron\u2019s hard-court floor remains higher.
Prediction: Giron in 3<\/p>\n

Fabian Marozsan vs Eliot Spizziri<\/p>\n

Head-to-head:<\/strong> first meeting<\/p>\n

Fabian Marozsan has now won at least half of his 31 matches against Top 20 players, dating back to May 2023, when he shocked Carlos Alcaraz in Rome<\/a>. The Hungarian defeated Casper Ruud in straight sets on Wednesday. He had previously knocked out defending champion Gael Monfils in the opening round. This is a fine turnaround after losing his opening match in Hong Kong. Spizziri is having an even better run in Auckland. He has not dropped a set from qualifying and has accounted for wins against Adrian Mannarino and the dangerous Nuno Borges. His game is growing as is his self-belief, and he could be a handful for the tireless Marozsan.
Prediction: Spizziri in 3<\/p>\n

Jakub Mensik vs Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard<\/p>\n

Head-to-head:<\/strong> Mpetshi Perricard 2-0 Mensik<\/p>\n

Mensik registered a three-set victory against Medjedovic in the last round. The match was suspended due to persistent rain, and it was not until late into the night that the Czech completed a 6-1 3-6 6-3 win under the lights. Both players are heavy hitters with high-impact swings. I expect at least two very close sets, but Mpetshi Perricard\u2019s solid timing on the ball this week and ability to compress the court with his forehand should give him an edge.
Prediction: Mpetshi Perricard in 2<\/p>\n

Ben Shelton vs Sebastian Baez<\/p>\n

Head-to-head:<\/strong> Shelton 1-0 Baez<\/p>\n

Baez is having a phenomenal start to the new season. He went undefeated in the United Cup a week ago and earned the biggest win of his career against Taylor Fritz. He\u2019s now 3-0 against Americans in 2026, having knocked out Emilio Nava and Jenson Brooksby in Auckland. While he doesn\u2019t quite match Shelton\u2019s heavy weaponry, Baez is serving smartly and has taken a clear step forward in his return games, showing more intent and aggression. Baez\u2019s persistence could earn him a set, but Shelton should prevail with another supreme serving performance.
Prediction: Shelton in 3<\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ben Shelton and Sebastian Baez will meet for a second time at the ATP 250 in Auckland. The…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":319986,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[227650,21485,160425,227651,227652,138862,229170,136249,157450,82302,230416,63957,159470,160430,160431,219091,219092,62,1464,1474,1475,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-516252","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-atp-auckland-predictions","9":"tag-ben-shelton","10":"tag-ben-shelton-predictions","11":"tag-eliot-spizziri","12":"tag-eliot-spizziri-predictions","13":"tag-fabian-marozsan","14":"tag-fabian-marozsan-predictions","15":"tag-giovanni-mpetshi-perricard","16":"tag-giovanni-mpetshi-perricard-predictions","17":"tag-jakub-mensik","18":"tag-jakub-mensik-predictions","19":"tag-luciano-darderi","20":"tag-luciano-darderi-predictions","21":"tag-marcos-giron","22":"tag-marcos-giron-predictions","23":"tag-sebastian-baez","24":"tag-sebastian-baez-predictions","25":"tag-sports","26":"tag-tennis","27":"tag-tennis-picks","28":"tag-tennis-predictions","29":"tag-united-states","30":"tag-unitedstates","31":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=516252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516252\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/319986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=516252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=516252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=516252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}