We are now in the middle of the final warm-up before the US Open, the 250-level ATP Winston-Salem Open. 48 players started competing for the last title before the final Slam of the season in a draw packed with quality. As always, we here at LWOT will preview and predict all 14 matches on day three, including Tallon Griekspoor vs Botic van de Zandschulp. But who will advance?
ATP Winston-Salem Day 3 Predictions
Jason Kubler vs Kwon Soon-woo
Head-to-head: Kubler 1-0 Kwon
Jason Kubler has had a brilliant season, earning a 44-14 record while reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon out of qualifying. On hard, the Australian won the Little Rock Challenger and also reached the final a week later in Orlando. Kubler looked solid in qualifying, beating Inaki Montes-De La Torre and Marton Fucsovics, and earned a draw directly into the second round after a withdrawal.
Kwon Soon-woo has had a much tougher time this season, going 17-23 and looking for his first back-to-back wins since Madrid qualifying. On North American hard courts, the Korean has won just two matches in four tournaments. In the first round, Kwon looked solid in his win over Daniel Altmaier. This is a close call but Kubler has to be the favourite. The Australian is coming into the match with better form.
Prediction: Kubler in 3
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Pedro Martinez vs Steve Johnson
Head-to-head: Martinez 1-0 Johnson
Aside of his maiden ATP title in Santiago in February, it has been a tough season for Pedro Martinez. The Spaniard started to generate some form in July, reaching the quarterfinals on his preferred clay in Gstaad and Kitzbuhel, but has not been able to translate it to hard courts. Martinez has lost his two hard-court matches this summer to Gael Monfils and Chun-Hsin Tseng.
Steve Johnson has had some great runs at Winston-Salem before, reaching the final here in 2018 as well as semifinal runs in 2015 and 2019. The American veteran looked quite solid in his first-round win over Emilio Nava, dropping just five games. Martinez won their previous meeting in the “Cincinnati” qualifying in 2020 in New York, but on current form, Johnson should be considered the favourite here.
Prediction: Johnson in 2
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Emil Ruusuvuori vs Adrian Mannarino
Head-to-head: Mannarino 1-0 Ruusuvuori
Emil Ruusuvuori is getting his season going on North American hard courts here. The Finn, defending a semifinal here from last season, has gone 4-3 in August, including wins over Hubert Hurkacz or Stan Wawrinka. Ruusuvuori reached the final of Pune earlier in the season but has not been able to put together another deep run to the semifinals or further since. Standing in his way is Adrian Mannarino, making his first Winston-Salem appearance since 2014.
The Frenchman played out an incredibly dramatic match with Christopher O’Connell, saving three match points to win in a third-set tiebreak after three hours and 33 minutes. Mannarino has found a bit of form on the North American hard courts this summer, reaching the quarterfinals in Atlanta and the second round out of qualifying in Montreal. Expect Ruusuvuori to win here though as the turnaround for Mannarino after such a physical match will likely be too much for the 34-year-old.
Prediction: Ruusuvuori in 2
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James Duckworth vs Maxime Cressy
Head-to-head: first meeting
It has been a tough season for James Duckworth, going 9-15 on the year and it has not been much better as of late, taking losses to Borna Gojo and Gabriel Diallo earlier this month. That said, the Australian did play some good tennis in his third-set tiebreak win over Thanasi Kokkinakis in the first round here. After a brilliant grass season that included Maxime Cressy’s first ATP title in Newport as well as a final in Eastbourne, the American has not been able to follow the results up on hard.
In fairness, Cressy has not really taken a bad loss in recent weeks, losing to Andrey Rublev, Monfils and Botic Van De Zandschulp after finding himself on the receiving end of some tough draws, but he is still looking for a good hard court run in North America ahead of his home Slam. The ATP Winston-Salem Open could be the opportunity Cressy has been looking for and he should have enough in the taken to win this match at the very least.
Prediction: Cressy in 2
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