Second-round action gets underway at the ATP Mifel Tennis Open on Wednesday evening in this week’s late-night extravaganza in Los Cabos, Mexico. Top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas gets his summer hard-court swing in full flow against big-serving John Isner. We also look at the rest of the day’s matches in a separate article. Who do you think will prevail?
ATP Los Cabos Day 3 Predictions
Felipe Meligeni Alves vs Tommy Paul
Head-to-head: first meeting
A runner-up in Acapulco earlier this year, Tommy Paul returns to Mexico looking to go one better as the third seed in Los Cabos. In fact, Paul has lost three finals in the first half of the season across all levels and on three different surfaces. You wonder whether that misfortune will start to play in the back of his mind. Meligeni Alves probably surprised even himself to get to this stage after his 6-2 6-4 win over big-serving Alejandro Tabilo. Beating Paul would be an even bigger shock. Unfortunately for the Brazilian, that’s unlikely to happen.
Prediction: Paul in 2
Dominik Koepfer vs James Duckworth
Head-to-head: Duckworth 1-0 Koepfer
Dominik Koepfer’s growing confidence on hard courts is palpable. Last week, he upset John Isner and Dan Evans in back-to-back matches to reach the Atlanta quarterfinals. He produced another clean performance in his straight-sets win over Barrios Vera in his opening match in Los Cabos. The humid night conditions definitely play to his liking, making the ball heavier and extremely tough to outmaneuver him in baseline exchanges. Duckworth’s bags of tricks might not really be as effective as it is on quicker, low-bouncing hard courts.
Prediction: Koepfer in 3
[cta id=591 type=cta]
Aleksandar Kovacevic vs Cameron Norrie
Head-to-head: first meeting
Cameron Norrie has a decent record on South American soil, which accounts for two of his five titles. He won in Los Cabos in 2021 and finished runner-up to Daniil Medvedev at last year’s tournament. Regardless of his level this year, this is that part of the world you don’t want to face the British world #13.
Aleksandar Kovacevic had the fortune of drawing a qualifier in his opening match and made light work of compatriot Omni Kumar to ease into the second round. Norrie will surely have too much ground stroke power to overwhelm Kovacevic’s one-hander, which will falter more than it will fire winners.
Prediction: Norrie in 2
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs John Isner
Head-to-head: Tsitsipas 5-2 Isner
Stefanos Tsitsipas begins his North American hardcourt swing in Los Cabos, marking his tournament debut at the Mifel Tennis Open as the top seed. He embarks on a second stint alongside Mark Philippoussis looking to arrest his worst title drought since his ATP debut in 2016.
For John Isner, family takes precedence these days. During his interviews, he speaks like a man who isn’t looking to hang around the tour for a lot longer. Isner is unsure whether he’ll play in 2024. Isner was one of the most feared hard-court players in the world owing to his monstrous serve and consistent ball striking off either flank. But results this year suggest otherwise, and he’s on a wretched run of form in the few tournaments he has played on outdoor hard courts. His serve might keep things close, but other aspects of his game are not in working order.
Prediction: Tsitsipas in 3
Main Photo Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
