With Wimbledon fast approaching, the stars of men’s tennis have descended on Halle for the 30th edition of the ATP Halle Open. Day one has the hottest ticket as both the top two seeds will be in action. We have predictions of all six matches on Monday, including Daniil Medvedev vs Marcos Giron. But who will advance to the second round?
ATP Halle Day 1 Predictions
Mikael Ymer vs Brandon Nakashima
Head-to-head: first meeting
It’s been a stop-start season for Brandon Nakashima with his lack of form can easily attributed to the knee injuries he sustained after the Australian Open and just before the clay swing. Mikael Ymer has produced modest results at Tour level this season but remains a solid top-100 mainstay. Both players have lost their last three matches and picking sides could be anyone’s guess. But Nakashima has carried himself well on grass in the past two seasons and looks the likely favourite here.
Prediction: Nakashima in 3
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Denis Shapovalov vs Lloyd Harris
Head-to-head: Harris 3-0 Shapovalov
Denis Shapovalov’s frailties this year have been more mental than physical. Last week’s defeat to Fucsovics in Stuttgart was an apparent example of how he completely switched off mid-match and was easily vanquished after winning the opening set. Lloyd Harris is now six months into his comeback, but all we can say is that he’s got a long way to get anywhere near his peak ranking of #31. Even with Shapovalov’s recent struggles (and a surprisingly lop-sided head-to-head in Harris’ favour), the Canadian shouldn’t encounter too many problems here.
Prediction: Shapovalov in 2
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Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Gregoire Barrere
Head-to-head: Tsitsipas 1-0 Barrere
For the second time this season, Stefanos Tsitsipas lost two successive matches. With Tiafoe winning the Stuttgart title and replacing Khachanov in the top 10, Tsitsipas will be the only top-10 player without an ATP title this year as of Monday. So in a way, you could say he blew his best chance to lift some silver this past week after losing to Richard Gasquet. But expect the Greek to get his season back on track in Halle. He defeated Gregoire Barrere in their only meeting on grass at Wimbledon five years ago. The Frenchman’s big-hitting will help him on this surface, but it’s still questionable if he’ll match Tsitsipas’ intensity.
Prediction: Tsitsipas in 2
Main photo credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
