Western & Southern Open finalist Milos Raonic takes on Leonardo Mayer in round 1 of the US Open, while serve and volleyer Feliciano Lopez battles countryman Roberto Carballes Baena. Andrew Watson and Steen Kirby offer their predictions.
Leonardo Mayer vs Milos Raonic
Andrew: If the big Canadian was concerned that he didn’t have a long break between Saturday’s final and the first round then he probably couldn’t have wished for a better draw. Mayer has won only one main tour match in a year. Raonic should be aiming to dust this off in straight sets and regain some energy for tougher tests later in the tournament. Raonic in 3
Steen: Raonic has performed well this severely abbreviated season, while Mayer was struggling mightily before the COVID-19 forced break. Fatigue would be the only reason why Raonic would lose this match, and given he’s going to get a lot of cheap, quick points with his serve, he should be fine wrapping this up quickly. Raonic in 3
Feliciano Lopez vs Roberto Carballes Baena
Andrew: The veteran Spaniard should feel at home on the quick surface here. He showed that he was still enjoying the game in his run at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown and picked up some good wins there. His lefty serve will still cause plenty of problems for Carballes Baena. It is fair to say that the younger Spaniard will not enjoy the hard court quite so much. He was very impressive against his comptriots on the clay during a home series but doesn’t have good results on hard on the tour. Lopez’s serve should see him to a good victory here. Lopez in 4
Steen: Even at his advanced age, Lopez remains capable of credible ATP caliber tennis, RCB is not a hard court player and should struggle on these faster courts that favor Lopez. Lopez in 4
Mackenzie McDonald vs Casper Ruud
Andrew: This could be a scrappy match. McDonald has never won a main draw US Open match whereas Ruud hasn’t won a hard court match in 2020. Ruud is seeded 30 here but has built that ranking around excellent clay court performances. McDonald was busy during the break but usually playing a poor standard of opponent. The safest prediction here may be a long match but edge goes to Ruud. He does have the greater ability and his all-round play should see him through this test. Ruud in 5
Steen: Despite being far lower ranked, McDonald is at home and Ruud is starting to carve out a niche on the ATP Tour as a clay courter, which won’t help him here. This is a tough match to predict given how little tour level tennis we’ve seen this year, but McDonald played plenty of exhibition matches and should be fit and firing here. McDonald in 4
Alex De Minaur vs Andrej Martin
Andrew: The Aussie went out in the first round of the Cincinnati event against an inspired Jan-Lennard Struff. De Minaur may have learned there that a more aggressive game plan may be required to gain success at this venue. The Slovakian is often a dangerous floater but he has struggled a lot recently and is just hanging on to his top 100 ranking. De Minaur should be seeing this as a way to grow accustomed to the conditions and a solid win would set him up well for the tournament. De Minaur in 3
Steen: I expect De Minaur to be comfortable here. Martin is just not the same level of player and ADM should be a threat into the later rounds. De Minaur in 3
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