Alex Molcan and Stefanos Sakellaridis will face off in the semifinal of the Istanbul Challenger for the 1^st time in their career. They are scheduled to play on Saturday at 11:00 am on CENTER COURT. In this post, we analyze their head to head performance and prediction.

Prediction, odds and live streaming

The pick for Tennis Tonic is Alex Molcan who should win in 3 sets.

As per the initial odds, Alex Molcan is the pick to win this match.
Alex Molcan -> 1.44
Stefanos Sakellaridis -> 2.625

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Prediction and head to head Alex Molcan vs. Stefanos Sakellaridis

There is no head to head record between Alex Molcan and Stefanos Sakellaridis since this will be the first time that they will fight against each other in the main tour.

Alex Molcan

Ranked no. 257, the Slovakian reached the semifinal after beating Ivan Nedelko 6-4 1-0 ret., Martin Landaluce 6-3 6-4 and Abedallah Shelbayh 4-6 6-1 7-6(5).

In the quarter against Shelbayh, Alex recovered from a 1-set down deficit before winning (4-6 6-1 7-6⁵). During the match, Molcan scored 100 points vs Shelbayh’s 92. The Slovakian was exceptionally aggressive to blast 42 winners.

Regarding the service games, Molcan struck 3 aces and he committed only 3 double faults. Alex Molcan lost the serve 4 times and he saved 6 break points. Furthermore, Molcan put 67% of his first serves in, winning 64% (42/66) of the points behind his 1st serve and 63% (20/32) on the 2nd serve. Molcan broke Shelbayh 5 times after converting 42% of his break points (5/12).

Overall Performance in this tournament

Molcan has surrendered 1 set in this competition to win 55% of the points he played.

Molcan has a solid match record in the last 10 years having won 61% of his matches (289-181). 3-1 on hard in 2025. Regarding his performance on the same surface of this tournament, Molcan has an aggregate 64-41 match record in the last years on hard.

His best result of the season was winning the title the Sofia 2 Challenger where he defeated Joel Schwaerzler in the final 7-5 6-4.

Molcan has a composed 41-11 win-loss record in 2025, 3-1 on hard (See FULL STATS).

Previously in the Istanbul Challenger

Molcan has never competed in this tournament before.

Stefanos Sakellaridis

Ranked no. 315 (career-high), the Greek got to the semifinal after defeating Christian Langmo 4-6 6-3 6-4, Otto Virtanen 6-2 3-1 ret. and Hugo Grenier 7-5 6-7(3) 6-2.

In the quarter, Stefanos defeated Grenier (7-5 6-7³ 6-2). During the match Sakellaridis scored 112 points vs Grenier’s 101. Sakellaridis was very aggressive to blast 45 winners.

Talking about serving, Sakellaridis recorded 5 aces and he committed only 2 double faults. Stefanos Sakellaridis lost the serve twice and he saved 2 break points. Furthermore, Sakellaridis put 66% of his first serves in, winning 69% (45/65) of the points behind his 1st serve and 61% (20/33) on the 2nd serve. The Greek broke Grenier 5 times after converting 33% of his break points (5/15).

Overall Performance in this tournament

The Greek has conceded 2 set in the tournament to win 53% of the points he played.

Sakellaridis’s best result of the season was getting to the final in M15 Monastir and M15 Heraklion.

The Greek has a compiled 43-18 win-loss record in 2025, 32-10 on hard (See FULL STATS).

H2H Performance in the tournament (main draw)

Matches, sets, games and points

Points	Molcan	Sakellaridis
Match played	3	3
Tot Set	8	9
Tot Games	60	74
Pts	194-158	257-212
Total Points	352	469
Winners	79	98
%Winners	41%	38%

Both Molcan and Sakellaridis played 3 matches. Both players lost a set in the event. Alex Molcan surrendered 1 set, while Stefanos Sakellaridis dropped 2 sets. Molcan has played 1 set(s) less than Sakellaridis (8 vs 9). Therefore, Molcan played 14 games less than Sakellaridis. Alex scored 79 winners (41% of the total points). On the other side, Stefanos fired 98 winners (38%).

Serve Performance

Serve	Molcan	Sakellaridis
Aces	4	13
Avg per match	1.3	4.3
1st in	112/176	131/203
%1st in	64%	65%
1st pts	79/112	98/131
%1st pts	71%	75%
2nd pts	39/64	48/72
%2nd pts	61%	67%

Molcan recorded 4 aces (1.3 per match). Sakellaridis struck 13 aces (4.3 per match). Molcan won 71% points behind his first serve. He pretty effective on his second serve to win 61% of the points. On the other side, Sakellaridis won 75% of the points behind his first serve. He had a solid display on his second serve to win 67% of the points.

How they played the important points

Breaks	Molcan	Sakellaridis
Won	11	11
Converted	11/22	11/27
% Converted	50%	41%
Conceded	12	9
Saved	6	5
% Saved	50%	56%
Times Broken	6	4

The Slovakian broke his opponents 11 times with a 50% conversion rate. Alex surrendered his serve 6 times and he saved 50% of the break points that he conceded. The Greek broke his opponents 11 times with a 41% conversion rate. Sakellaridis conceded his serve 4 times and he saved 56% of the break points that he conceded.

Molcan
	R1 Nedelko	R2 Landaluce	1/4 Shelbayh	Total
Score	6-4 1-0 ret.	6-3 6-4	4-6 6-1 7-65
Tot Set	2	2	3	7
Tot Games	11	19	30	60
pts	34-25	60-41	100-92	194-158
Total points	59	101	192	352
Winners	10	27	42	79
%Winners	29%	45%	42%	41%
SERVE
Aces	0	1	3	4
Double Faults	0	2	3	5
1st in	13/29	33/49	66/98	112/176
% 1st in	45%	67%	67%	64%
1st pts	10/13	27/33	42/66	79/112
% 1st pts	77%	82%	64%	71%
2nd pts	8/16	11/16	20/32	39/64
% 2nd pts	50%	69%	63%	61%
Breaks
Won	3	3	5	11
Converted	3/3	3/7	5/12	11/22
Converted %	100%	43%	42%	50%
Conceded	1	1	10	12
Saved	0/1	0/1	6/10	6
Saved %	0%	0%	60%	20%
Times Broken	1	1	4	6

Sakellaridis
	R1 Langmo	R2 Virtanen	1/4 Grenier	Total
Score	4-6 6-3 6-4	6-2 3-1 ret.	7-5 6-73 6-2
Tot Set	3	2	3	8
Tot Games	29	12	33	74
pts	95-82	50-29	112-101	257-212
Total points	177	79	213	469
Winners	39	14	45	98
%Winners	41%	28%	40%	38%
SERVE
Aces	8	0	5	13
Double Faults	3	1	2	6
1st in	46/76	20/29	65/98	131/203
% 1st in	61%	69%	66%	65%
1st pts	39/46	14/20	45/65	98/131
% 1st pts	85%	70%	69%	75%
2nd pts	21/30	7/9	20/33	48/72
% 2nd pts	70%	78%	61%	67%
Breaks
Won	2	4	5	11
Converted	2/7	4/5	5/15	11/27
Converted %	29%	80%	33%	41%
Conceded	3	2	4	9
Saved	2/3	1/2	2/4	5
Saved %	67%	50%	50%	56%
Times Broken	1	1	2	4

Tennis Scores in Istanbul Challenger

• Luca PotenzaPotenza – Calvin HemeryHemery (6-4 7-6⁵) – See score progression
• Alex MolcanMolcan – Abedallah ShelbayhShelbayh (4-6 6-1 7-6⁵) – See score progression
• Nicolas MejiaMejia – Milos KarolKarol (6-2 7-6¹) – See score progression
• Stefanos SakellaridisSakellaridis – Hugo GrenierGrenier (7-5 6-7³ 6-2) – See score progression
• Benjamin Hassan/Andreas MiesHassan/Andreas Mies – Guido Andreozzi/Daniil GolubevAndreozzi/Daniil Golubev (7-6¹ 6-7⁶ 10-3) – See score progression
• Nicolas MejiaMejia – Milos KarolKarol (6-2 7-6(1)) – See score progression
• Luca PotenzaPotenza – Calvin HemeryHemery (6-4 7-6(5)) – See score progression
• Alex MolcanMolcan – Abedallah ShelbayhShelbayh (4-6 6-1 7-6(5)) – See score progression
• Stefanos SakellaridisSakellaridis – Hugo GrenierGrenier (7-5 6-7(3) 6-2) – See score progression

Upcoming matches in the draw

• Alex MolcanMolcan – (0-0) – H2H and prediction
• Nicolas MejiaMejia – Luca PotenzaPotenza (0-0) – H2H and prediction