{"id":23969,"date":"2020-02-09T21:15:31","date_gmt":"2020-02-10T02:15:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordontennis.com\/?p=23969"},"modified":"2020-02-09T21:52:51","modified_gmt":"2020-02-10T02:52:51","slug":"atp-new-york-open-day-1-predictions-johnson-sandgren","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2020\/02\/09\/atp-new-york-open-day-1-predictions-johnson-sandgren\/","title":{"rendered":"ATP New York Open Day 1 Predictions including Steve Johnson vs Tennys Sandgren"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first ATP tournament of the year to be contested on US soil will be the New York Open, now in its third edition. Played at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the event was won last year by the big-serving American Reilly Opelka, who has returned to defend his title and is joined by fellow giants John Isner and Kevin Anderson. On day one, we here at LWOT are offering predictions for every match, including Miomir Kecmanovic vs Tommy Paul<\/a>. But who will advance?<\/p>\n

New York Open Day One Predictions<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Steve Johnson vs Tennys Sandgren<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Head-to-head: <\/strong>Sandgren 2-1 Johnson<\/p>\n

This will be the fourth meeting between Steve Johnson and Tennys Sandgren, with Sandgren having won two of the previous three. But it was Johnson who won their most recent match, beating Sandgren in the final in on the clay in Houston in 2018 in three-sets to win the third title of his year and avenge defeats at Sandgren\u2019s hands in Savannah in 2009 and 2013, also on clay. But Johnson may not be relishing his return to indoor tennis.<\/p>\n

He has lost his last eight matches on indoor hard courts and has won just 38% of the matches he has played indoors throughout his career. Sandgren too has a losing record indoors, but he arrives at the New York Open in much better form than his compatriot. Whilst Johnson has been struggling for tour-level wins, Sandgren reached the Australian Open quarterfinals on his last outing, although that run did come to an end in heartbreaking fashion as he squandered seven match points in losing to Roger Federer.<\/p>\n

He will need to put that disappointment behind him when he takes to the court against Johnson, who may have gained some confidence from his success at the Bendigo Challenger. Nonetheless, the Johnson backhand remains a real weakness in the Californian\u2019s game, one Sandgren will surely look to target from the outset. Both men can be vulnerable at times, so expect a close contest possibly featuring a tiebreak, but Sandgren is that much more solid which should prove the difference.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Sandgren in 3
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>