Day 2 at the ATP 500 event in Acapulco will feature some of the seeds, including Stefanos Tsitsipas and Frances Tiafoe, as well as last week’s Los Cabos champion Jordan Thompson. It should be a day full of high quality tennis and some very tightly contested matches going down to the wire. Who do you think will advance? We also look at the rest of the day’s matches in a separate article, featuring Alexander Zverev vs Daniel Altmaier.
ATP Acapulco Day 2 Predictions
Terence Atmane vs Dominik Koepfer
Head-to-head: first meeting
Atmane had a nice run through qualifying and has a winnable first round here against a Koepfer who lost his last two matches after a good showing at the Australian Open where, despite losing in the first round, he pushed eventual semifinalist Alexander Zverev to the limit. It should be a very tight match, decided by small details here and there.
Predictions: Koepfer in 3
Frances Tiafoe vs Max Purcell
Head-to-head: first meeting
Tiafoe hasn’t started the season well and will be looking to get back on track this week in Mexico. Purcell hasn’t been in very good form so far this year either despite a respectable performance against Casper Ruud at the Australian Open. In general, Tiafoe is the better player of the two by some margin and should be able to pull through here.
Prediction: Tiafoe in 3
Aleksandar Kovacevic vs Jordan Thompson
Head-to-head: Thompson 1-0 Kovacevic
Thompson is fresh off easily the best week of his career, beating former Slam finalists Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud back to back to win the first title of his career at the age of 29 and reach his career highest ranking at #32. After having such career-defining weeks, most players have a letdown, both physically and especially mentally, and lose early in the following tournament, especially if it’s the week right after. That should give Kovacevic an excellent chance to win here.
Prediction: Kovacevic in 2
Roman Safiullin vs Stefanos Tsitsipas
Head-to-head: Safiullin 1-0 Tsitsipas
Tsitsipas has been struggling in recent times and left the top 10 after almost five years, but he’s still in a better spot right now than Safiullin, who has lost his last four matches in a row. Tsitsipas might be far from his best, but his baseline level is still enough to beat most opponents on Tour and he should be able to pull through here.
Prediction: Tsitsipas in 3
Main Photo Credit: Danielle Parhizkaran-USA TODAY Sports
