It’s been an amazing week of tennis so far in Nur-Sultan, but the week is far from over, as we have more fascinating matches to play on Wednesday. Who will take a step closer to the title and who will fall short? Let’s share our thoughts on the matches.
ATP Nur-Sultan Day 3 Predictions
Tommy Paul vs Radu Albot
Head to Head: 1-0 Paul
Tommy Paul got a much-needed win over Stefano Travaglia in the first round. After a tight first set win, Paul comfortably took the second to advance to the second round. Radu Albot also won a crucial match, his over Dmitry Popko in the first round. Albot was able to fight back from a set deficit and was very clutch in the third set.
Paul leads the head to head 1-0, having beaten Albot in three sets in a 2016 hard court match. Paul has the more powerful serve and groundstrokes and I’m still not totally convinced about Albot’s rally tolerance from the baseline currently. Expect Paul to come through this one, although Albot won’t make it easy on him.
Prediction: Paul in 3
Jiri Vesely vs Egor Gerasimov
Head to Head: tied 1-1
Jiri Vesely had a strong start to his indoor hard court season, taking out Tennys Sandgren in straight sets. Vesely’s big lefty serve and huge forehand are tough to handle on hard courts. Egor Gerasimov seems to have found his game. After a good showing in Cologne, he defeated Lloyd Harris in three sets, winning in a third set tiebreak.
The head-to-head is tied 1-1, with both matches taking place on hard courts and taking place in the past couple of years. This is a really tough one to call as it will come down to who can play the better version of first-strike tennis. I trust Gerasimov’s ground game a touch more than Vesely’s and like the form that he has been building recently. Gerasimov wins a tight one.
Prediction: Gerasimov in 3
Federico Delbonis vs Mikhail Kukushkin
Head to Head: tied 1-1
Federico Delbonis will be happy to get off of the carpet courts of Ismaning where he looked very uncomfortable last week in a loss to Brayden Schnur. However, Delbonis isn’t particularly great on indoor hard either. Mikhail Kukushkin, with his extremely flat groundstrokes, is built for indoor hard. But, he lost a tough straight setter to Miomir Kecmanovic in his opening indoor hard court match since the restart in St. Petersburg.
The head to head is tied 1-1 with, not surprisingly, Delbonis winning on clay and Kukushkin winning on hard. Delbonis is generally not very comfortable off of clay courts and Nur-Sultan should, theoretically, suit Kukushkin’s game well. Expect Kukushkin to comfortably win this one.
Prediction: Kukushkin in 2
Frances Tiafoe vs Miomir Kecmanovic
Head to Head: tied 1-1
Frances Tiafoe will look to build off of his strong start in Nur-Sultan. The American beat Corentin Moutet in straight sets in the first round. Momir Kecmanovic had a bye to start off the tournament. He has been solid, but not great, so far during the indoor hard court season, going 2-2.
The head to head is tied 1-1, splitting the two hard court matchups. Tiafoe level since the restart has been quite good. He had a good showing at the US Open, won a clay court Challenger, and has generally been playing some solid tennis from the baseline. Miomir Kecmanovic won the ATP 250 event in Kitzbuhel, but hasn’t won consecutive matches since. This is a very tight matchup, but given Frances’ rising confidence and the controlled aggression he has shown recently from the baseline, I expect him to win a very close match.
Prediction: Tiafoe in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
