The ATP Atlanta Open heats up literally and figuratively, with three seeds in action on Day 4 fighting for a spot in the quarterfinals. Five Americans will be playing in front of a local crowd, including local college standout Andres Martin and the recent NCAA champion Ben Shelton. John Isner has dominated Atlanta with six career titles and will look to make that seven, while there will be an afternoon all-American matchup between Jenson Brooksby and Mackenzie McDonald. The #3 seed Alex de Minaur will also be in action in what is sure to be a physical and entertaining match. All four of the days matches are predicted below with the rest of the quarterfinal to be set by the end of the day!
ATP Atlanta Open Day 4 Predictions
Alex de Minaur vs James Duckworth
Head-to-head: First meeting
Duckworth is looking to build on a strong grass season after a poor start to the year. De Minaur is playing his first match on hard courts after the summer, looking to build on his strong start and fourth round at the Australian Open. The heat in Atlanta will bring fitness into play, an area where de Minaur is one of the best on tour. The countrymen will be meeting for the first time while their careers are going in different trajectories. De Minaur has been a staple on tour and looks to be a serious part of the future, while Duckworth is a veteran looking to be nearing the tail end of his career. De Minaur is more talented and more fit and should have no problem winning the match easily.
Prediction: De Minaur in 2
Jenson Brooksby vs Mackenzie McDonald
Head-to-head: First meeting
Brooksby will be thrilled to be back on hard courts where he has had a lot of success in his young career. He broke onto the radar for many tennis fans with an impressive fourth round appearance at last year’s US Open, which he followed up with consecutive fourth round results in Indian Wells and Miami this year. McDonald has had decent results throughout the year but has struggled to beat high-caliber players. Brooksby is certainly proving to be one and will look to hit past McDonald in a match that will surely feature many long rallies. Brooksby will use his baseline game to grind down McDonald and wear him out over the course of the match. McDonald will get a set in but Brooksby will pull away in the third and win convincingly.
Adrian Mannarino vs Andres Martin
Head-to-head: First meeting
Martin is a local player at Georgia Tech making his first ever ATP-level appearance. He looked great in the first round in a dominant victory over talented Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis. Mannarino has had a very poor year by his standards, but will be pleased to be back on hard courts, the one surface he has a winning record on in 2022. Mannarino has looked inconsistent recently but will have a favorable matchup here. Collegiate players tend to struggle at this level and Martin faces a tricky matchup here. Mannarino is overall a solid player who makes limited errors and forces his opponents to beat him. Martin will have to play at an extremely high level to do so, but Mannarino will be too solid and use his experience to control the match and get the win.
Prediction: Mannarino in 2
John Isner vs Ben Shelton
Head-to-head: First meeting
Isner is looking to defend his Atlanta title in a tournament he has one six times including last year. Shelton has played well on the Challenger Tour this year after winning the NCAA Championship at the University of Florida. He is an exciting talent and played great in his straight-set win over Ramkumar Ramanathan in the first round. Isner has been difficult to beat at Atlanta and on hard courts in general. While he has shown more vulnerability this year, Shelton will be facing a serve he has never seen before. While Shelton is talented and will be able to go for broke as an underdog, Isner’s skills and experience will win out and he will continue his dominance in Atlanta.
Prediction: Isner in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
