The 2024 ATP Brisbane International is entering its second-round stage with four singles matches on Wednesday’s schedule (plus a leftover Round 1 between Alex Michelsen and Ugo Humbert). Top seed Holger Rune is facing another tricky opponent in Alexander Shevchenko. Who do you think will come out on top?
ATP Brisbane Day 4 Predictions
James Duckworth vs Yannick Hanfmann
Head-to-head: Hanfmann 2-0
Yannick Hanfmann scored the biggest hard-court win of his career when he defeated World No. 24 Sebastian Korda in the opening round. The German has the assets to compete well off clay on paper, but for some reason has always looked a bit lost when taking them to other surfaces (particularly the trademark kick serve). James Duckworth is past his prime but still playing at a fringe top-100 level and this seems like a solid opportunity for him on home soil. Should be tight.
Predictions: Duckworth in 3
Lukas Klein vs Matteo Arnaldi
Head-to-head: Klein 1-0
Lukas Klein has started the season with a great run, qualifying from a tough section and beating Sebastian Baez for his first ATP Tour win in two and a half years. Now he’s facing Matteo Arnaldi, whom he defeated at Miami last year. However, it seems that the young Italian has made a much bigger leap since, getting himself to the top 50 of the ATP Rankings and adding a ton of pop to his serve and forehand. Klein’s on fire right now but unlike Baez, Arnaldi can stand up to his pace and has the athleticism to find the passes with the Slovak at the net.
Predictions: Arnaldi in 2
Roman Safiullin vs Alexei Popyrin
Head-to-head: 1-1
Alexei Popyrin had a couple of nice runs in this Australian swing last year, picking up a quarterfinal in the first week of the season and beating two top 10 players. But Roman Safiullin is recently firing on all cylinders too and kicked off his campaign by defeating Ben Shelton in the opening round. Seems like the discrepancy between his A-game and B-game is still pretty high, but if he lands a good day at the office the forehand shotmaking can be overwhelming.
Predictions: Safiullin in 3
Holger Rune vs Alexander Shevchenko
Head-to-head: First meeting
Holger Rune has a tricky draw in Brisbane and after running away with it in the decider against Max Purcell, he’s facing another opponent with a knack for upsets. Alexander Shevchenko defeated Taylor Fritz and Karen Khachanov in his two most recent ATP Tour appearances, but it feels like part of these wins was the one-dimensional nature of these players’ games and how much that suited his natural baseline rhythm. Rune is way more unpredictable, although it should still be fairly tight as Shevchenko never goes down without a fight.
Predictions: Rune in 3
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
