The 2023 ATP Adelaide International continues with four second-round matches on the schedule on day four in South Australia. As always, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the schedule, but who will secure their spot in the quarterfinals?
ATP Adelaide Day 4 Predictions
Yoshihito Nishioka vs Mackenzie McDonald
Head-to-head: Nishioka 3-1 McDonald
Yoshihito Nishioka started his 2023 campaign with a huge win over Paris Masters champion Holger Rune, frustrating the Dane with his tricky lefty spins. He’s got a 3-1 head-to-head lead over Mackenzie McDonald, but lost their most recent meeting in Moscow two years ago. Nishioka is probably the slight favorite here, given his very strong finish to last year and the confidence he gathered from beating the recent Paris Masters champion.
Prediction: Nishioka in 3
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Marcos Giron vs Alexei Popyrin
Head-to-head: Giron 1-0 Popyrin
Can Alexei Popyrin keep his phenomenal start to the year going? The Australian played some brilliant tennis in the qualifying draw, dispatching Yibing Wu and Zhizhen Zhang, to secure his place in the main draw and he was then able to secure his first (non-retirement) top-10 win over Felix Auger-Aliassime. If Popyrin can be as patient and confident in choosing the right balls to attack as he has been so far, Marcos Giron is an opponent he could enjoy himself against.
Prediction: Popyrin in 3
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Jack Draper vs Karen Khachanov
Head-to-head: Khachanov 1-0 Khachanov
A bitterly disappointed Jack Draper was forced to retire against Karen Khachanov at the US Open. Now he gets the chance to play him again. Both players were very clean in their first performances of 2023 and just like in New York, it’s hard to determine the favourite. Draper seems to have more upside at the moment, but it’s certainly not like Khachanov is drawing dead and actually matches up with him pretty well stylistically. Still, expect the Briton to have just about in this hard-hitting contest.
Prediction: Draper in 3
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Daniil Medvedev vs Miomir Kecmanovic
Head-to-head: Medvedev 2-0 Kecmanovic
While Miomir Kecmanovic had a brief spell where he looked like a top-10 player in 2022, his matches against top opposition generally didn’t end well. That includes the two clashes with Daniil Medvedev in Los Cabos and at the French Open. Kecmanovic has a fantastic all-round game, but lacks some a really reliable point-winning weapon, especially against defenders of the Russian’s quality. He’ll probably struggle to hit through Medvedev again here which suggests a similar result will be on the cards.
Prediction: Medvedev in 2
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