Top seed Daniil Medvedev heads into the final weekend of Brisbane as the favorite, but he will need to get past lucky loser Kamil Majchrzak in the quarters. Americans Sebastian Korda and Alex Michelsen are also in action on Friday.
(1) Daniil Medvedev vs. (LL) Kamil Majchrzak
Daniil Medvedev is wildly unpredictable as top players go. The Russian managed to win one match in four majors played in 2025 and only just barely managed to sneak out a title at the very tail end of the season last year.
However, Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak didn’t even win his way through qualies in Brisbane; he got in as a lucky loser when Joao Fonseca withdrew at the last moment with a back injury. Medvedev was sharp earlier this week against Marton Fucsovics and Frances Tiafoe. Look for the former world No. 1 to make his way to the semifinals without much difficulty.
Cheryl pick: Medvedev in 2
Ricky pick: Medvedev in 2
Sebastian Korda vs. Alex Michelsen
This could be an interesting rivalry in the coming years. Sebastian Korda, if he manages to overcome his injury woes, has a promising game; Michelsen is just starting to break through at age 21. The two Americans have surprisingly never played each, but that is owing to Korda being sidelined for much of the past year as Michelsen was moving up the rankings.
Of the two players, Korda (age 25) has the more refined game and is more experienced; Michelsen has a 21-year-old’s fresh legs. Korda has been impressive so far this week with comprehensive wins over Valentin Vacherot and Jiri Lehecka, so he should have the edge.
Cheryl pick: Korda in 2
Ricky pick: Korda in 3