The first round continues in earnest at the ATP New York Open on Tuesday. More big servers take to the court as the crowds are treated to some powerful tennis across the draw.
All eight singles matches on Day 2 are previewed and predicted, beginning with the following four match-ups.
ATP New York Open Day 2 Predictions
Yoshihito Nishioka vs Henri Laaksonen
Head-to-Head Record: Nishioka 1-0 Laaksonen
Everything is pointing towards the Japanese in this clash. The previous meeting between the pair was on clay, four years ago, so is not overly relevant in this case. However, what is relevant is recent form and Nishioka is outperforming Laaksonen comfortably at the moment.
Nishioka has also proven himself to be far more adept in the indoor conditions. He has a winning career record indoors, whereas the Swiss has won only 37% of his matches indoors. Laaksonen also has a poor recent record against left-handers, losing four of his last five against them.
The Japanese has won in the first round in four of his previous five tournaments. Expect him to make it five out of six tomorrow, probably with a degree of comfort.
Prediction: Nishioka in 2
Brian Shi vs Cameron Norrie
Head-to-Head Record: First meeting
This will be a tough task for Brian Shi. The New York native is a talented young player attending Harvard, but is likely to receive a tough tennis education here. Having reached an ITF junior ranking high of #62, Shi enrolled at Harvard and hasn’t played a professional tennis match since 2018.
Even when Shi did play in ITF tournaments he was losing comfortably to players ranked in the mid-500s. Shi has a decent 65% winning record as a professional, but has never made it past the quarterfinal stage of an ITF Futures event.
Meanwhile, Cameron Norrie hasn’t had a particularly fruitful start to the year. The Briton hasn’t yet managed to win in 2020 but is ranked #61 in the world and will surely be too good and too experienced here.
Prediction: Norrie in 2
Brayden Schnur vs Dominik Koepfer
Head-to-Head Record: First Meeting
Schnur has a wild card into this event, probably as a result of his excellent run to the final in 2019. There are a lot of ranking points for the Canadian to defend here and he will be keen to put up a good defence.
Koepfer’s main bulk of ranking points come from a strong run to the fourth round of the US Open. That effort propelled the German into the top 100 in the world. He remains there but is struggling for the type of results he needs to back that ranking up. There was a return to form of sorts in his last tournament at ATP Challenger Dallas. Koepfer reached the semifinals there, losing to eventual champion Jurij Rodionov.
This will be the German’s first ATP Tour level match indoors. Schnur’s run to the final here last year skews his indoor data somewhat as well so it is difficult to use this information to judge. I feel as though Schnur’s motivation and good memories of this tournament could drag him to the win here.
Prediction: Schnur in 3
Ivo Karlovic vs Jordan Thompson
Head-to-Head Record: Karlovic 2-1 Thompson
It almost goes without saying that tiebreaks could play a big part in this match. Karlovic plays a tiebreak in 47% of sets he plays indoors. By most accounts the New York Open surface is quicker than average so this may actually underestimate the likelihood of seeing a tiebreak in this match.
Thompson is no slouch on serve either, holding 83% of the time he has stepped up to the line indoors. The major problem that the Australian has encountered has been breaking his opponents. He has only managed this in 14% of return games.
If tiebreaks are involved then the Croatian would appear to have the upper hand. He has a winning career record in tiebreaks (over a VERY large sample). Thompson, in contrast, has a surprisingly poor record, winning only 31% of the breakers he has contested in his main tour career. This gives Karlovic the edge and could be enough to see him through to round two.
Prediction: Karlovic in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
Disagree with our ATP New York Open Day 2 Predictions? As always, feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.
