The ATP grass swing continues with a lead-up to Wimbledon in Eastbourne, and Day 1 features a couple of local favorites, including rising challenger Jack Draper. Will hometown support carry a Brit through to the title for the first time in twenty years, or will Alex de Minaur speed his way to a repeat trophy? See our predictions below, including Sebastian Korda vs John Millman.
ATP Eastbourne Day 1 Predictions
Brandon Nakashima vs Jay Clarke
Head-to-head: first meeting
Predicting matches on grass often feels like a crap shoot. A week ago, completely green Tim van Rijthoven beat a handful of top players to win Hertogenbosch, and grass-averse Filip Krajinovic is just coming off the final of London. And here in this matchup we have two players with just fourteen matches on grass between them. Clarke was wild-carded in as a British player, and has yet to win a match on grass this year. But Nakashima has at least had a good warmup, winning a couple good matches in Hertogenbosch, and a couple reasonable ones before that in a Challenger. And anyway, Nakashima is overall the better player. But unless you’re picking Novak Djokovic, it’s hard to be certain enough to pick anyone on grass in two.
Prediction: Nakashima in 3
Sebastian Korda vs John Millman
Head-to-head: Korda 1-0
Korda comes back after a layoff of a few weeks, and he gets a favorable matchup against a struggling Millman. The Aussie has not played well since Delray Beach in February, and is only 6-12 on the year. He does have an experience advantage, though, both in years and on grass, where he’s played 28 matches (and about half as many at the lower levels). This exceeds Korda’s seven total matches on grass; but the American has fared well, winning five of them. Korda seems like an adaptable player, and I think he’ll find his way on the surface and continue his success, though Millman’s experience and attacking style could give him trouble.
Prediction: Korda in 3
Jenson Brooksby vs Jack Draper
Head-to-head: first meeting
Brooksby, like a typical American, is mainly a hard court player. He’s fared well on grass in his limited experience, but it is indeed limited. Draper, too, is a hard court player with limited grass experience, and is only now breaking into the top 100 and onto the ATP tour. Therefore experience favors Brooksby, who doesn’t have anything to prove at the moment, while Draper is still trying to show that he belongs on tour. The hometown crowd should help the Brit, who did show potential in last year’s Wimbledon by taking a set off Novak Djokovic. But his biggest problem is movement, which won’t be helped by Brooksby’s capable drop shot.
Prediction: Brooksby in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
