It’s a busy day at the ATP Winston-Salem tournament with Benoit Paire, David Goffin, Andy Murray, and Marin Cilic among the names in action. Here is your look at four of the matches on the day on hard courts in North Carolina.
Ilya Ivashka vs Marin Cilic
Cilic won their only meeting last year and has put together a solid season, the veteran won the title in Stuttgart and hasn’t lost a first round match in a while. Ivashka has a positive W/L this year, this has been his best season on tour even if he hasn’t put together a ton of highlights. This match should be competitive, but Cilic has a bigger game and can reach a higher level. Cilic in 3
Carlos Alcaraz vs Alexei Popyrin
Popyrin has three wins this week in Winston-Salem as a qualifier, this has been his best year ever on tour and he won a title earlier in the year, Alcaraz qualified for Cincinnati and won his first ever ATP title in Umag. The Spanish player is more comfortable on clay but good enough on hard courts that he will keep this match competitive. Popyrin’s form is impressive though. Popyrin in 3
Jan-Lennard Struff vs Gianluca Mager
Mager has been respectable clay this season but struggles on faster surfaces, Struff is on a three match losing streak and has been pedestrian since reaching the second week at the French Open. Even with Struff not playing well, Mager is not up to par on hard courts. Struff in 2
Emil Ruusuvuori vs Alexander Bublik
Ruusuvuori reached the semifinals in Atlanta, both players are playing the best tennis of their career in 2021. Bublik was a semifinalist in Newport and has two finals this year. This is an anticipated matchup, Bublik should have slightly more upside. Bublik in 3
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