Day 2 at the final ATP Masters 1000 of the season will feature plenty of exciting action in Paris, including the second highest ranked teenager in the world, Holger Rune, who’s been on a great run this fall, taking on three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, among other exciting matches. Although the top seeds won’t be in action yet, high quality and tightly contested matches are to be expected this Tuesday in Paris.
ATP Paris Bercy Day 2 Predictions
Dan Evans vs Brandon Nakashima
Head-to-head: Nakashima 1-0 Evans
Nakashima has been steadily rising through the rankings in the last year and he capped off that ascension with a first career title recently in San Diego, after a couple of very good Slam runs at Wimbledon and the US Open. Evans, on the other hand, seems to have somewhat stagnated, though he recently reached the semifinals at the Canada Masters and is always a tricky opponent to play. Nakashima should be a slight favorite here, even if the match is likely to be tightly contested.
Prediction: Nakashima in 3
Arthur Rinderknech vs Jack Draper
Head-to-head: first meeting
Rinderknech has been playing very well lately; after the US Open, he has played four tournament and reached the quarterfinals in all of them, even if he hasn’t made any final. This run includes wins over the likes of Cilic, Carreno Busta and Schwartzman. Draper has struggled with injuries but when healthy he has shown he has the ability to be ranked higher than he currently is, as a straight set win over Aliassime in New York amply demonstrates (he would then retire injured mid-match against Khachanov in the following round). It should be a very evenly matched contest between two rising talented players.
Prediction: Draper in 3
Botic van de Zandschulp vs Grigor Dimitrov
Head-to-head: Van de Zandschulp 1-1 Dimitrov
Both their meetings came in 2022 and they split them. Tuesday should be quite a toss-up as well; the Dutch has become the more consistent player, but Dimitrov has the higher peak. The Bulgarian had been in terrible form for a while but he had a good week in Vienna, reaching the semifinals, beating Rublev and only losing to eventual champion and recent #1 Daniil Medvedev. If he can replicate that level, he might have another decent run this week.
Prediction: Dimitrov in 3
Holger Rune vs Stan Wawrinka
Head-to-head: first meeting
A clash of generations. Wawrinka is trying to get back to something resembling his Slam-winning and world #3 form, while Rune is just starting out and showing signs that he too can win Slams in the future. He struggled a lot after his defeat in the Roland Garros quarterfinals to Casper Ruud, but he’s been on quite a run this fall, with three finals in a row. He lost two of those finals, but impressively beat Stefanos Tsitsipas to win the title in Stockholm. The fact that he’s playing for a fourth week in a row after three consecutive finals might help Wawrinka score another big win here after he recently beat Medvedev.
Prediction: Wawrinka in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
