Day 3 at the ATP event in Tokyo will feature five matches, all with the potential for plenty of quality and excitement. Although on paper the field isn’t quite as stacked as in Astana, there’s still plenty of high quality players in the Japanese capital including Indian Wells champion Taylor Fritz and last week’s Seoul champion Yoshihito Nishioka, who’ll be playing at home in front of his fans.
ATP Tokyo Day 3 Predictions
Mackenzie McDonald vs Soonwoo Kwon
Head-to-head: Kwon 1-0 McDonald
Although McDonald is the higher ranked player of the two by a distance, it’s Kwon who looks to be on an upward trend, with some very encouraging performances in some matches this season, including yesterday’s straight set win over Alex de Minaur. McDonald looked to be on the ascension last year after reaching the Washington final, but he never really kicked on and is having a very tough 2022 season. Kwon should have the edge here.
Prediction: Kwon in 2
Jaume Munar vs Pedro Martinez
Head-to-head: Martinez 4-1 Munar
Although the head-to-head seems very lopsided in favor of Martinez, all those five encounters happened on clay where both players are theoretically at their best. On hard, Munar should be the slightly more comfortable player of the two and he’s just off arguably the best win of his career over world #3 and recent US Open finalist Casper Ruud. He’ll surely be full of motivation here and should prevail this time around.
Prediction: Munar in 2
Denis Shapovalov vs Steve Johnson
Head-to-head: Shapovalov 1-0 Johnson
Johnson once peaked as a top 25 player capable of winning ATP titles, but those days are long gone and he hasn’t found any success at ATP level in a long time. Shapovalov is having a very disappointing season ever since he beat Nadal in Rome, but he finally had a strong run last week in Seoul, although he ended up losing in the final against Nishioka. He’ll be looking to build on that and should be able to win with relative ease here.
Prediction: Shapovalov in 2
Yoshihito Nishioka vs Miomir Kecmanovic
Head-to-head: Nishioka 2-1 Kecmanovic
Nishioka is coming off arguably the best week of his career so far, with a second career title in Seoul and a career high ranking of #41. He’d love to continue that great form in his home tournament, but it’s often not easy to keep up the high level after a career week and Kecmanovic is no slouch. It should be a very tight match and a lot will depend on how much Nishioka has left in the tank after his Seoul run.
Prediction: Nishioka in 3
Taylor Fritz vs James Duckworth
Head-to-head: Duckworth 2-0 Fritz
This head-to-head is highly surprising to say the least, but both matches occurred before Fritz’s 2022 breakthrough. He has reached a new level this year (despite some shock losses, like at the US Open), is now playing at a top 10 level and should definitely notch his first win over Duckworth here.
Prediction: Fritz in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
