The ATP Winston-Salem Open begins on Sunday, as players try to fine-tune their games in the last warm-up before the US Open. We get a blockbuster matchup between Andy Murray and Nick Kyrgios on Day 1 of the tournament. As always, we’re here to predict all of the day’s matches for you. We have the rest of Sunday’s matches in a separate article.
ATP Winston-Salem Open Day 1 Predictions
Egor Gerasimov vs Norbert Gombos
This is a potentially fun matchup, though neither player is in particularly good form right now. Still, both are entertaining when they play well, and Gombos has some impressive wins this year. On the other hand, those were all on clay. In fact, Gombos has yet to win a Main Draw match on hard courts this year. Ouch.
Prediction: Gerasimov in 2
Mikael Ymer vs Stefano Travaglia
Ymer began the 2019 season outside the Top 200. He broke into the Top 70 in early 2020 with impressive results on the Challenger Tour. The Swede has not yet had consistent results since moving to Tour-level consistently, but he’s playing solid tennis against good players. There’s too much talent in his game to stay inconsistent at Tour-level forever, and there’s too much talent for Travaglia to overcome.
Prediction: Ymer in 3
Marcos Giron vs Facundo Bagnis
Giron has some impressive results this year, and on the biggest of stages. He hasn’t done anything equal to his French Open run on the Tour-level this year, but the talent is undeniable. He should like these fast hard courts, while Bagnis prefers clay.
Prediction: Giron in 3
Andy Murray vs Nick Kyrgios
What a great matchup at such a random tournament. Both of these players are fan favorites, and there is always entertainment and potential emotion when these guys play (anyone, not just each other). Kyrgios is searching for form and rhythm before the US Open, while Murray is just trying to slowly find his way back to where he once was. This will be a great match to show us how close (or far) he is.
Prediction: Kyrgios in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
