The French Open is over and, as quick as a flash, the ATP has moved from the grinding play of the clay season to the lighting fast serve-centric grass courts of Den Bosch. On the second day of play at the men’s event in s’Hertogenbosch, we have plenty of ATP stars in contention that have been deprived a tour-level match for a while, including Tallon Griekspoor’s match with Mikael Ymer and up-and-comer Arthur Fils’ match with compatriot Adrian Mannarino. As always at LWOT, we’ve looked to predict these matches and others–in a separate article.
ATP Hertogenbosch Day 2 Predictions
Arthur Rinderknech vs Alexei Popyrin
Head-to-head: Rinderknech 1-0 Popyrin
Though he’s lost a lot of his matches this year, Arthur Rinderknech rarely gives his opponent an easy ride, especially on a faster surface. He’s more than comfortable getting to the net and has a lively serve that should be very difficult to return on grass.
Alexei Popyrin has repeatedly been knocking on the door of a top 50 breakthrough, however. He has had so many close losses recently, odds are he’s going to win some of them at some point. Still, it’ll probably be close but we’re slightly more confident in the game style of the Frenchman on this surface.
Prediction: Rinderknech in 3
Mackenzie McDonald vs Ilya Ivashka
Head-to-head: Ivashka 3-2 McDonald
Given his glory at the start of the year against Rafael Nadal, Mackenzie McDonald has gone through a surprising rough spell of seven losses in a row. He does like his tennis a bit faster and should feel pretty comfortable in these conditions but he did kick off his grass season with a straight-sets loss to Jordan Thompson.
Ilya Ivashka actually defeated McDonald at this very same event last year in three sets. Ivashka’s game is potent, especially when the pressure is off so we don’t see any reason why the same result won’t be repeated, given their respective forms.
Prediction: Ivashka in 3
[cta id=445 type=cta]
Tallon Griekspoor vs Mikael Ymer
Head-to-head: Griekspoor 1-0 Ymer
Mikael Ymer is one of the most athletic players on tour. That athleticism can be stifled, however, on a faster surface where his grinding abilities are less effective. Still, grass is always going to be a game of fine margins and his relentlessness could get in the head of Tallon Griekspoor.
The Dutchman is probably best suited to conditions where he gets a little more time on his forehand. Overall though, we can’t help backing Griekspoor’s powerful game which likely trumps Ymer’s in most situations.
Prediction: Griekspoor in 3
Arthur Fils vs Adrian Mannarino
Head-to-head: First meeting
There are few players on the ATP Tour with as poor a record on clay as Adrian Mannarino. He loves to get under his opponent’s skin by playing extremely low-trajectory lefty balls that skid through the court and, on clay, these shots sit higher than he would like. The Frenchman will be drawing a sigh of relief moving to grass where his shots are tailor-made for him to be as much of a nuisance as possible.
Arthur Fils is young and explosive but, prior to this tournament, he’d never played a professional match on grass. He’s come through qualifying fairly comfortably but his two opponents have been struggling with injury recently. We expect the veteran Frenchman to masterfully pick apart his younger compatriot.
Prediction: Mannarino in 2
Main Photo Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports
