The Davis Cup tie between the United States and Uzbekistan will feature two players who had excellent Australian Open performances on the US side: Tommy Paul went all the way to the semifinals, losing only to eventual champion and joint-record Slam holder Novak Djokovic. Mackenzie McDonald, on the other hand, scored the best match win of his career, defeating defending champion Rafael Nadal in the second round. With Uzbekistan fielding two players ranked outside the top 350, this is likely to be a straightforward win for the Americans, but you can never be too sure in tennis.
Davis Cup Predictions: U.S.A. vs Uzbekistan
Mackenzie McDonald vs Sergey Fomin
Head-to-head: first meeting
McDonald scored an incredible win over Nadal Down Under, but he got injured in the following round against Yoshihito Nishioka. He managed to finish the match but was visibly diminished and that’s the only hope for Fomin here. Fomin is ranked #366 and is on a losing streak even at Challenger and Futures level, it’s highly unlikely he is capable of challenge the American here.
Prediction: McDonald in 2
Tommy Paul vs Khumoyun Sultanov
Head-to-head: first meeting
Tommy Paul is on a high after the best run and result of his career at the Australian Open, where he reached the semis and only succumbed to Novak Djokovic. While Paul was doing this, Sultanov was having a very good week himself, reaching the final of a Futures in Kuwait (but losing it). The levels are, however, very different, and a potential Paul hungover after such an amazing result seems to be Sultanov’s only possible hope here in what should be a complete mismatch.
Prediction: Paul in 3
Mackenzie McDonald vs Khumoyun Sultanov
Head-to-head: first meeting
Once again here, Sultanov’s only hope seems to be McDonald’s injury sustained at the Australian Open. The American is several classes above and should prevail with relative ease in what could even be a dead rubber at this point in the tie.
Prediction: McDonald in 2
Tommy Paul vs Sergey Fomin
Head-to-head: first meeting
Going from reaching the Australian Open semifinals to losing to a player outside the top 350 in the very next match would be arguably the biggest fall we’ve seen in recent times but it’s highly unlikely to happen here. In a match that could very well be a dead rubber, Paul should have no issues prevailing.
Prediction: Paul in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
