Day 2 at ATP Queen’s Club is stacked with great matches throughout. The defending champion, Carlos Alcaraz, will be in action alongside all the other remaining seeds. As always, we here at LWOT will offer our predictions for every match on the slate for Day 2. But who will advance to the second round?
ATP Queen’s Club Day 2 Predictions
Daniel Evans vs Brandon Nakashima
Head-to-Head: Evans 1-2 Nakashima
Daniel Evans has won just three main draw matches this year and has fallen off the rankings quite a bit. The good thing for him is that he has no points to defend in this grass season and can capitalize on it as his game suits this surface. Brandon Nakashima is full of confidence right now, with many wins under his belt of late. Nakashima reached the semifinals last week in Stuttgart and will back himself to create enough chances to break Evans’ serve. Keeping the form in mind, it’s sensible to pick the American in this matchup.
Prediction: Nakashima in 3
Sebastian Korda vs Karen Khachanov
Head-to-Head: Korda 2-3 Khachanov
Sebastian Korda has started his grass season impressively, reaching the finals of the Libema Open. He reached the semifinals of Queen’s Club last year and will look to replicate a similar performance. His game is tailor-made for the grass; taking the ball early and good hands around the net. Karen Khachanov has been struggling for good results since winning the Qatar Open in February. Khachanov has a good record on grass but his loss to Aleksandar Vukic in Den Bosch is worrying. Khachanov’s confidence cannot be very high right now, and if Korda isn’t fatigued, he should win.
Prediction: Korda in 3
Carlos Alcaraz vs Francisco Cerundolo
Head-to-head: First meeting
Carlos Alcaraz will begin his title defense on Tuesday and has a tricky first-round match. This will be Alcaraz’s first match on grass since winning Wimbledon last year. The Spaniard has spoken in the past that he doesn’t need many matches to get to his best level and if he can get through the opening couple of rounds, he will be the favourite to win the title. Francisco Cerundolo showed last year that he can play well on grass and is not just a clay courter. This year hasn’t been kind to Cerundolo and he has a significant amount of points to defend on grass. He can certainly put up a fight, but I can’t see him beating Alcaraz.
Prediction: Alcaraz in 2
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane – USA TODAY Sports
