World No. 4 and No. 1 American Taylor Fritz isn’t setting the world on fire this year, but the 2023 ATP Miami quarterfinalist is still among the main contenders to do damage this week. He’ll kick off his campaign against Lorenzo Sonego, who hasn’t defeated him on hard courts yet. Who do you think will prevail?<\/p>\n
Head-to-head<\/strong>: 1-1<\/p>\n It’s an interesting matchup history with Gabriel Diallo scoring one of the best wins of his career against Arthur Fils at the US Open<\/a>, but then getting demolished at this stage of the event in Indian Wells two weeks ago. The Frenchman ended up having a great run, almost taking out Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals. In quicker conditions, the match should be closer despite Diallo coming in as a lucky loser. But maybe Fils can build upon his performances from last week and finally get closer to realizing his potential. Head-to-head<\/strong>: Safiullin 2-1<\/p>\n It’s not that long ago that Alexei Popyrin won one of these events (ATP 1000 Montreal<\/a>), but his form this year isn’t quite there. In Indian Wells, he had a serious chance to get past Marcos Giron and converted just one of his fifteen break points. Not being clinical is probably a direct result of the confidence he’s missing this season. But Roman Safiullin plays an even more all-or-nothing style and hasn’t been firing on all cylinders either. It seems like this is a good opportunity for Popyrin to keep rebuilding.
\nPrediction: Fils in 3<\/em><\/p>\nAlexei Popyrin vs Roman Safiullin<\/h4>\n
\nPrediction: Popyrin in 3<\/em><\/p>\n