12 singles main draw matches are on Monday’s schedule at the 2023 ATP Winston-Salem Open, three of them from the second round. 2022 semifinalist Marc-Andrea Huesler takes on Richard Gasquet, who’s made the last eight stage anytime he played this event (2016, 2021-22). We also predict the rest of the day’s matches in two separate articles, featuring Marton Fucsovics vs Zhizhen Zhang and Marton Fucsovics vs Zhizhen Zhang. Who do you think will prevail?
ATP Winston-Salem Day 2 Predictions
Nuno Borges vs Jack Draper
Head-to-head: First meeting
Nuno Borges only played one match since Wimbledon, losing to Daniel Elahi Galan in Cincinnati qualifying. Jack Draper has been out for a while too, constantly struggling with injuries in his young career. There’s no doubt he’ll be back up there once he’s healthy though. Last week in Winnipeg, he managed to get three matches under his belt and lost to Arthur Cazaux in the quarterfinals. It seems like he should be ready for this challenge.
Prediction: Draper in 2
Dominik Koepfer vs Constant Lestienne
Head-to-head: Lestienne 2-0
Dominik Koepfer making it back to the top of the sport so early after his injuries was pretty surprising, but the German is an expert at exceeding expectations. He has a negative head-to-head record against Constant Lestienne with two Challenger losses, one in Vancouver last year. Looks like it’s time to change that with the Frenchman in relatively poor form this season despite taking the title in Stanford just last week (saved seven match points vs Dane Sweeny along the way).
Prediction: Koepfer in 2
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Michael Mmoh vs Darian King
Head-to-head: Mmoh 4-3
Between 2016 and 2019, these two faced each other in seven ATP Challenger Tour matches. Michael Mmoh has the slight head-to-head lead, but it’s obviously been a while since their last clash. That might be an issue for Darian King here. He’s been the one who’s playing kinda on-and-off, although he’s back to grinding the ITF Tour this season with stellar results this year (24-4 record on that circuit). However, Mmoh has improved so much since and will be getting a lot more free points on serve than when they played back in the day.
Prediction: Mmoh in 2
Marc-Andrea Huesler vs Richard Gasquet
Head-to-head: First meeting
Marc-Andrea Huesler reached the semifinals here last year and he would really like another result like this right now. The Swiss hasn’t been able to reach that sort of form again, although he did advance after Alexander Shevchenko’s third-set retirement in round one. This is a winnable opportunity with Richard Gasquet winning that ATP 250 attack at the beginning of the season, but struggling at tour-level since. It’s up to Huesler to show he can defeat the veteran here.
Prediction: Huesler in 3
Main Photo Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
