The ATP returns to Seoul for the first time in 25 years, and the 250 draw is a bit tight with world #2 Casper Ruud looming at the top. Cameron Norrie is another Top 10 talent who will look to wind down the season on a strong note as a potential champion here. And Taylor Fritz rounds out the Top 3 in terms of contention, surely hoping to redeem himself after a very disappointing showing at the US Open. We make our match picks below, including Jenson Brooksby vs Soonwoo Kwon.
ATP Seoul Day 4 Predictions Including Cam Norrie vs Kaichi Uchida
Jenson Brooksby vs Soonwoo Kwon
Head-to-head: first meeting
Kwon has been struggling this year, having dropped 70 places in the rankings this season. His recent performance hasn’t been very good, outside of a strange win over Felix Auger-Aliassime in Davis Cup. Brooksby has been up and down, and has had a mediocre year overall, but he is better on hard courts than Kwon and can reach a higher level. The Felix win looks like a huge outlier for Kwon, and I wouldn’t expect him to repeat that performance, and I would expect Brooksby to come in hungry after a bad loss to Christopher O’Connell in San Diego.
Prediction: Brooksby in 2
Yoshihito Nishioka vs Taro Daniel
Head-to-head: first meeting
After a ludicrous run to the finals in Washington that saw him take out four top 40 players and Andrey Rublev, Nishioka has not played well. He hasn’t been on court much at all this year, logging only 25 matches, although he’s had a good start to this week in Seoul with a win over Dan Evans in straight sets. Daniel doesn’t have the extra gear that Nishioka has, although he can sometimes pull out good ones; but he hasn’t beaten a Top 100 player in the last two months. Daniel is also well below Nishioka’s win percentage on hard courts. I would take Nishioka’s recent slump into account, but Daniel is on a similar slump, and the former should handle this one well.
Prediction: Nishioka in 2
Cameron Norrie vs Kaichi Uchida
Head-to-head: first meeting
Kaichi Uchida is making just his third ATP start, having come through a wild card in the first round. A top 10 opponent in Cameron Norrie is maybe not the best draw for building confidence on the tour. Norrie has played well this year, earning two titles and closing in on 50 wins for the season. Norrie has a much higher win percentage on hard court on the ATP tour than Uchida has on the Challenger Tour, and the Brit should be able to close this one out quickly.
Prediction: Norrie in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
