After a couple of days of United Cup action, ATP Tour tennis returns as well with a full day of action in Adelaide. As always, we here at LWOT will preview and predict every match. Who do you think will win? We also have predictions for matches featuring Holger Rune and Jack Draper.
ATP Adelaide Day 2 Predictions
Jordan Thompson vs Quentin Halys
Head-to-head: Halys 4-1 Thompson
Both players had a strong season on the Challenger Tour last year while struggling to convert their form into main tour success. Thompson won Surbiton and Columbus while also reaching the final of Nottingham. Halys’ season was on another level though, going 58-27, winning titles in Pau, Lille, and Ismaning, reaching four more Challenger Tour finals. The Frenchman won their first four meetings convincingly, mostly at Asian Challengers, but Thompson won their most recent match 6-2 6-0 when the two met in Mallorca qualifying on grass. Despite that, I see Halys as a slight favorite here though it is close to a coin flip.
Predictions: Halys in 3
Thanasi Kokkinakis vs Maxime Cressy
Head-to-head: Kokkinakis 1-1 Cressy
Despite finishing the season on the edge of the Top 100, Kokkinakis had some very bright moments in 2022. The Australian began the year with a couple of strong runs in Adelaide, going to the semifinals in week one and winning the Adelaide 2 title. Kokkinakis also reached the fourth round of Miami as a qualifier but now comes the time to defend his Adelaide runs, which puts his ranking in jeopardy. Cressy also has a lot to defend in Australia as he reached the final of a 250 in Melbourne before going to the second week at the Australian Open. Similarly to Kokkinakis though, the second half of the season was also disappointing for the American, failing to make an impact on indoor hard. Kokkinakis won their first meeting at Tiburon Challenger in 2019 while Cressy came out on top when the two met in Wimbledon qualifying. Despite the ranking gulf between the two, both are players with a lot of pressure and little form coming in, which levels the field somewhat. I will lean towards Kokkinakis here though it could go either way.
Predictions: Kokkinakis in 3
Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Alexei Popyrin
Head-to-head: first meeting
After finishing 2022 with an absolute rampage on indoor hard that included three back-to-back titles and a 16-match winning streak, Auger-Aliassime is one of the most intriguing players coming into this season. The Canadian already showed a high level of play in Australia last year when he won the ATP Cup for Canada and reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, only falling to Daniil Medvedev in five sets. The Canadian is among the field of title contenders going into Melbourne. Popyrin suffered a very disappointing season last year, going 3-11 between Wimbledon and Basel, and dropping out of the Top 100. There are encouraging signs for the 23-year-old though as he qualified past both Chinese breakout stars in Zhizhen Zhang and Yibing Wu, beating the latter 7-5 in the third set. Popyrin is playing better than almost at any point last year but that will still most likely not be enough for Auger-Aliassime.
Predictions: Auger-Aliassime in 2
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