Day two of the 2023 ATP Washington Open is a mixture of first-round and second-round matches. As always, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the slate, including Emil Ruusuvori vs Yoshihito Nishioka. But who will advance?
ATP Washington Day 2 Predictions
Aleksandar Vukic vs Brandon Nakashima
Head-to-head: Vukic 1-1 Nakashima
Aleksandar Vukic is coming off the most significant result of his career in Atlanta, making the final and beating three top-40 opponents. Brandon Nakashima was actually just one win from meeting him there, losing to Christopher Eubanks in the second round. They’ve played twice on grass and Vukic won in Eastbourne this year. Feels like a decent chance for a reversal with Nakashima playing a bit better than his results suggest and the Australian potentially tired after a long week.
Prediction: Nakashima in 3
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Kevin Anderson vs Jordan Thompson
Head-to-head: Anderson 3-0 Thompson
Kevin Anderson used to dominate this matchup, but that might not hold up now that the South African has retired and then reversed that decision, returning to the tour for the first time in over a year last week. We’ve only seen him in Newport so far where he looked surprisingly competitive in reaching the quarterfinals, although Ugo Humbert outplayed him easily there. It will be interesting to see if the improvements in Jordan Thompson’s game since provide a shake-up in this rivalry. The first serve especially might do just that.
Prediction: Thompson in 3
Hubert Hurkacz vs Michael Mmoh
Head-to-head: first meeting
There are some similarities between these two guys with them playing more defensive styles than you’d expect based on their physicality. Hubert Hurkacz has the much bigger serve, but he might get lost in the longer exchanges with Michael Mmoh, provided the American can stay disciplined and very determined not to make the error. It’s hard to go against the Hurkacz delivery though and it’s likely that it just grants him enough free points for this to be a comfortable match.
Prediction: Hurkacz in 2
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Ben Shelton vs Shang Juncheng
Head-to-head: Shang 1-0 Juncheng
This is a rematch from last week with ShangJuncheng beating Ben Shelton 6-4 6-4 in Atlanta. After mostly focusing on picking up grass and clay-court experience the last few months, this is where the American must start picking up wins back on home turf in the USA. He wasn’t able to do it on a very fast hard court and it won’t get easier in the humid conditions in Washington. Shang is a great counter-puncher and he will make Shelton work for it. It’s not going to be easy at all and the 18-year-old might just have enough tricks in his bag again to win this battle of the young guns.
Prediction: Shang in 3
Main photo credit: Andy Abeyta/The Desert Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK
