The Paris Olympics are in full swing, but there is still other tennis action around the world. Washington DC welcomes the Mubadala Citi DC Open to its grounds for an ATP 500-level event. The draw is littered with Americans, including No. 4 seed Sebasitan Korda who squares off against Cristian Garin in the second round. As always, we at LWOT have the preview and prediction for all matches around the grounds of ATP Washington. But who will advance to the next round?<\/p>\n
Head-to-Head<\/strong>: Nakashima 1-0 O’Connell<\/p>\n No. 13 seed Brandon Nakashima begins his ATP Washington campaign against Christopher O’Connell. The 30-year-old Aussie had dropped six consecutive matches before his Round 1 win over Harold Mayot. Nakashima is 13-13 in tour-level matches this season as he works his way back from a knee injury. He is liable to throw in an inconsistent performance here and there, but I expect him to begin his tournament with a convincing win.<\/p>\n Prediction: Nakashima in 2<\/em><\/p>\n [tgdcta items=”1″ id=”170468″]<\/p>\n Head-to-Head<\/strong>: Nishioka 1-0 Kovacevic<\/p>\n Yoshihito Nishioka jumped 36 ranking spots after he claimed his third title of his career last week in Atlanta. The 28-year-old Japanese is 10-2 in his last 12 matches after a slow start to the season. 25-year-old American Aleksandar Kovacevic holds a career-high ranking of World No. 82, though he is just 2-7 in his last nine matches. The only way I see the in-form Nishioka dropping this match is if he is worn out from his efforts last week.<\/p>\n Prediction: Nishioka in 2<\/em><\/p>\nYoshihito Nishioka vs Aleksandar Kovacevic<\/h4>\n