First-round action continues on day two at the ATP Tel Aviv Open as players look to find their form on the indoor hard courts. Although the great Novak Djokovic is in the draw, a number players to believe they have a great chance to work their way to the weekend in Tel Aviv. There are number of entertaining matches on day two, including Vasek Pospisil vs Tallon Griekspoor, and as always we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the slate. But who will reach the second round?
ATP Tel Aviv Day 2 Predictions
Botic van de Zandschulp vs Joao Sousa
Head-to-head: first meeting
Fifth seed Botic van de Zandschulp gets his ATP Tel Aviv Open campaign started against Joao Sousa. It will be the first meeting between the two. Van de Zandschulp is coming off of three impressive Davis Cup victories over Alexander Bublik, Cameron Norrie, and Taylor Fritz. He has proven to be a very strong indoor hard-court player, holding a career record of 71-30 on the surface. His Portuguese opponent has been very inconsistent in the latter years of his career. Sousa has won a main draw match in just two of the last 11 tournaments he has competed in. Sousa will always put up a good fight, but the Dutchman should prove to be too tough in this one.
Prediction: van de Zandschulp in 2
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Arthur Rinderknech vs Marius Copil
Head-to-head: first meeting
Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech has drawn Romanian qualifier Marius Copil in the first round in Tel Aviv. Copil, who is currently ranked #350 in the world, picked up two strong wins over seeded players in qualifying to reach the main draw. With that said, the 31-year-old has yet to win a main draw tour-level match this season. Rinderknech, on the other hand, reached a career-high ranking of world #48 back in January and has been hovering around the 50th ranking all season long. This season, he is 18-11 on hard courts, including 3-1 on indoor hard courts. Rinderknech is the more consistent and in-form player. He should roll.
Prediction: Rinderknech in 2
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Cem Ilkel vs Sebastian Korda
Head-to-head: Ilkel 2-0 Korda
Current world #44 Sebastian Korda will take on current world #382 Cem Ilkel in the first round in Tel Aviv. Ilkel actually holds the 2-0 head-to-head advantage over Korda, having beat the American in 2018 and 2019 Challenger matches. With that said, Korda is a completely different player at this point in his career. Although he has had somewhat of an up-and-down season, the American has established himself as a top-50 player in the world. With a few more years of fine-tuning, I could see Korda as a future top-five player. He has too much firepower in his bag for Ilkel to deal with. Expect the American to come out with a bit more motivation than usual given the fact Ilkel has gotten the better of him twice before.
Prediction: Korda in 2
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Emil Ruusuvuori vs J.J. Wolf
Head-to-head: Ruusuvuori 1-0 Wolf
One of the most intriguing matches of the day in Tel Aviv comes between Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori and the United States’ J.J. Wolf. Ruusuvuori won their only previous meeting just over a month ago in Cincinnati 7-6 6-2. I expect a battle between these two with many long, drawn-out points. Neither player has been in great form, so an opportunity to make a run in this somewhat open draw must be enticing. The consistency and better history in three-setters is what helps gets Ruusuvuori to the finish line.
Prediction: Ruusuvuori in 3
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