{"id":78177,"date":"2025-01-14T01:00:33","date_gmt":"2025-01-14T06:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=78177"},"modified":"2025-01-13T23:58:15","modified_gmt":"2025-01-14T04:58:15","slug":"australian-open-day-4-mens-predictions-nishikori-paul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/01\/14\/australian-open-day-4-mens-predictions-nishikori-paul\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian Open Day 4 Men’s Predictions Including Kei Nishikori vs Tommy Paul"},"content":{"rendered":"

The second round of the Australian Open kicks off on Day 4 with 16 men’s singles matches. An exciting battle between Kei Nishikori and No. 12 seed Tommy Paul paces the group. Our other prediction sets feature Novak Djokovic vs Jaime Faria<\/a>, Carlos Alcaraz vs Yoshihito Nishioka<\/a> and Casper Ruud vs Jakub Mensik<\/a>. Predicting these matches are Damian Kust, Ateet Shrivastava and Yesh Ginsburg. Who do you think will advance?<\/p>\n

Australian Open Day 4 Men’s Predictions<\/h2>\n

Jack Draper vs Thanasi Kokkinakis<\/h4>\n

Damian<\/em>
\nDraper\u2019s first-round performance was a complete mess, but the Brit survived despite 88 unforced errors. It seems like he\u2019s fine physically, it was just really easy for Navone to keep the rally at neutral and wait for the Brit to miss. Kokkinakis is the one who seems more vulnerable fitness-wise right now, but his level is so good I\u2019m tempted to make the upset call.
\nPrediction: Kokkinakis in 5<\/em><\/p>\n

Ateet<\/em>
\nDraper was not at his best, undercooked coming into the match on the back of the hip injury he suffered in the offseason. Lots of errors from his forehand in particular. But he should be happy to come through the match. Thanasi Kokkinakis will be an even tougher challenge for Draper and he will have to play a much more solid match to advance to the third round. These two have always played close matches and I anticipate this time will be no different. With Kokkinakis\u2019 injury concerns, I have Draper going through.
\nPrediction: Draper in 5<\/em><\/p>\n

Yesh<\/em>
\nJack Draper is the future, but his health isn’t ever clear. The same is true of Kokkinakis. In any other country, I’d take the Brit. At home? Should be fun for the Aussie.
\nPrediction: Kokkinakis in 4<\/em><\/p>\n

Alexander Zverev vs Pedro Martinez<\/h4>\n

Damian<\/em>
\nIt\u2019s a great draw for Zverev as Martinez is a solid hard-courter, but not one you\u2019re going to get massive upsets from on courts like this. He\u2019s made the third round in Australia before and it\u2019s not like he\u2019ll be demolished by the German. It\u2019s just tough to see how this matchup won\u2019t be a rather slow and painful death.
\nPrediction: Zverev in 3<\/em><\/p>\n

Ateet<\/em>
\nZverev wasn\u2019t at his usual best from the baseline in his first-round match but served brilliantly to win the match comfortably. He will look to improve his break point conversion as he was awful in that department. Pedro Martinez is in good form and was dominating the match against Darderi before the Italian retired. I expect him to push Zverev in at least a set but the German should prevail in the end.
\nPrediction: Zverev in 4<\/em><\/p>\n

Yesh<\/em>
\nMartinez got through easily in Round 1 thanks to a retirement, but Zverev is just too strong right now. No one is stopping the German anytime soon.
\nPrediction: Zverev in 3<\/em><\/p>\n

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