By the end of Day 4 in New York we will know the make-up of the quarterfinals. The question for American fans is whether or not one or two of the American athletes can create a strong presence in the club.
We have predictions from all of the singles matches on Day 4.
ATP New York Open Day 4 Predictions
Reilly Opelka vs Yoshihito Nishioka
Head-to-Head Record: First meeting
Assessing Reilly Opelka for this match is a tricky job. He has lost five matches in a row, stretching back to October of last year. However, he is the defending champion here and is yet to taste defeat on these courts.
Nishioka came through a rather bizarre first-round match against Henri Laaksonen. Having won the first set the Japanese won only 14 points in the second set. He recovered to take the match comfortably, 6-2 in the third.
Nishioka could have a very good season ahead of him. It feels like he has matured at this level and is ready to step up a level. However, on this surface, with Opelka’s record at this tournament, this could be a tough assignment. Nishioka could easily win a set but this will feel like the time to get the season started for Opelka. Take the big American to win this one.
Prediction: Opelka in 3
Jason Jung vs Cameron Norrie
Head-to-Head Record: Jung 1-0 Norrie
Jung played an excellent match in round one to defeat Kevin Anderson in straight sets. He really has his eye in now after playing six sets in New York and winning all of them. No doubt the Taiwanese athlete will take some confidence from beating Norrie easily on a hard court in 2017 as well.
Conversely, other than the end result there wasnt a lot for Norrie to feel confident about after he struggled past the Harvard University student Brian Shi in round one. In a way that was very much a lose/lose situation for the Briton and he will be relieved to be through that potential banana skin.
On indoor hard court throughout their career, Jung holds a slight win percentage advantage (60% v 55%). However, drilling down into the hold/break numbers shows that Norrie actually has an edge over Jung. It is current form though that in the end just allows me to support Jung for this match-up.
Prediction: Jung in 3
Kyle Edmund vs Dominik Koepfer
Head-to-Head Record: First meeting
Whilst Edmund has achieved much more in the game than his German opponent it really feels as though it is the Briton who has a lot to prove heading into this match. Edmund may have found some confidence in his last match having defeated Yasutaka Uchiyama in straight sets.
Koepfer was impressive in dismissing last years finalist Brayden Schnur quite comfortably. Hard courts in the US certainly seem to agree with the German following his run in the US Open last year.
Koepfer isn’t as strong a server as Edmund, especially indoors, but he will fancy his chances at getting a few looks on the Edmund serve. If the German player is able to do this then the match will be in his grasp.
Predicion: Koepfer in 2
John Isner vs Jordan Thompson
Head-to-Head Record: Isner 3-0 Thompson
Jordan Thompson must’ve packed his body armour when he saw his draw here. Having defeated Ivo Karlovic in the first round he now faces off against John Isner.
Thompson improved his tiebreak record against Karlovic by winning the second set breaker to seal victory. However, Isner has a better tiebreak record than Karlovic did and, again, the likelihood of there being tiebreaks in this match is better than 50/50.
The two played in this tournament twelve months ago and amazingly enough there wasn’t a tiebreak then. Isner must have found his returning racket for that match and defeated the Aussie 6-4 6-1. As long as the American is fit (he retired from the Australian Open) he should progress from this match.
Prediction: Isner in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
