The second round of the Dallas Challenger event gets under way tonight, and with the event worth 100 ATP points it is sure to be fiercely contested.
Picks in bold.
(1) Ryan Harrison vs Mackenzie McDonald: Harrison is the top seed, and is in form so is naturally favoured. McDonald is tough to predict though, with a number of impressive wins in his limited exposure to tour tennis. He is the reigning NCAA singles and doubles champion too, which explains his absence from such events. I favour Harrison but McDonald is an enigma and one to watch for sure.
(WC) Marcos Giron vs (2) Taylor Fritz: Giron did very well to defeat veteran Brian Baker in straight sets in the first round. The American does not have a lot of success at this level though, so I favour the NextGen star Fritz in this tie.
(3) Mikhail Kukushkin vs Tatsuma Ito: It is unusual to see Kukushkin’s name in these American Challengers, but he is severely out of form at present. A poor result at this tournament could see him fall out of the ATP Top 100. That being said, I think we can expect to see him in Dallas for at least another round yet.
Sekou Bangoura vs Elias Ymer: Neither is seeded after Ymer defeated eighth seed Tim Smyczek in round one. Tough to call as Ymer is the higher-ranked player, but most of his deep runs at events have come on clay. A good chance for Bangoura.
Di Wu vs (4) Frances Tiafoe: Tiafoe qualified for the Australian Open, reaching the second round. It was enough to push him into a to date career-high ranking of N0. 97. He was imperious in dismissing Christian Harrison for the loss of just three games in round one. Wu got a good win against Tennys Sandgren in the first round, but I would consider a win over Tiafoe for the Chinese one of the shocks of the tournament.
(7) Rajeev Ram vs Reilly Opelka: A ranking upset predicted here, though the level of the two players on this surface it should not really be considered a shock. Opelka is one of the best teenagers on tour, highlighted by his impressive showing against David Goffin in the Australian Open. Opelka serves well and is a surprisingly good mover for someone of his height.
Marco Trungelliti vs Raymond Sarmiento: Hard to decide as Sarmiento got a career-best win in the first round against Benjamin Becker. With all due respect, I feel that result had more to do with Becker’s ongoing spell of poor form rather than Sarmiento’s excellence, though he certainly played well. Trungelliti should win.
(6) Denis Kudla vs Austin Krajicek: Both these players have seen their careers fall a little recently. Both are former Top 100 pros, but have seen better days. Kudla continues to battle to wins at this level though, whilst Krajicek is quickly overwhelmed at times. Kudla is my pick.
