A quick summary of the top players and best matchups in action on Day 2 of the Australian Open, with predictions. Rafael Nadal, Daniil Medvedev, and Andrey Rublev are among the headliners on Tuesday.
Rublev over Hanfmann in 3 – There may not be a single unseeded player in the draw who would take a set off Rublev right now. If there is, Hanfmann isn’t the one.
Monteiro over Martin in 4 – In a matchup between two clay-courters, Monteiro is far more competent on hard courts.
Sonego over Querrey in 4 – This is a matchup between two ball-bashers. At the moment, Sonego is the smarter player (which isn’t saying a lot). He has also been far more successful of late.
Medvedev over Popsisil in 4 – This will be closer than expected…which also isn’t saying a lot. Their head-to-head history is encouraging for Pospisil. The fact that Medvedev looks unbeatable by anyone except maybe Nadal and Novak Djokovic is not.
Thompson over Ruud in 4 – This one all comes down to the surface. On a hard court instead of clay, Thompson has the edge.
Paul over Basilashvili in 3 – There’s no other way to say it; at present, Basilashvili is one of the worst players in the entire draw.
Popyrin over Goffin in 4 – Popyrin reached the third round last year. With a struggling Goffin as his nearest seed, there is no reason why he can’t do it again.
McDonald over Cecchinato in 3 – It’s kind of surprising that Cecchinato actually bothered going through quarantine to play a hard-court Grand Slam.
Coric over Pella in 3 – Peak Pella could make this a good one, but peak Pella hasn’t been seen since the summer of 2019.
Tsitsipas over Simon in 4 – Tsitsipas is getting night-session treatment in Rod Laver Arena. He generally thrives on the big stage.
Kwon over Kokkinakis in 5 – Kokkinakis may not win, but it would be a moral victory if his body lasts five sets.
Van de Zandschulp over Alcaraz in 5 – This should be a fun one between BVZ and CAG. Basically a toss-up.
Hurkacz over M. Ymer in 3 – Mikael is the better Ymer brother, but he still isn’t good enough to seriously trouble Hurkacz.
Berrettini over Anderson in 4 – Anderson is not anyone you want to face in round one, but Berrettini is up to the task based on what he showed at the ATP Cup.
Herbert over Fognini in 4 – Bernard Tomic, Benoit Paire, and Fognini are three guys you have to pick against basically regardless of the circumstances or the opponent. Herbert won’t even have to do anything special.
De Minaur over Sandgren in 4 – One thing’s for sure: this will have the most entertaining rallies of the day.
Nadal over Djere in 3 – If Nadal is close to 100 percent, he will roll. And if Nadal is well less than 100 percent…he will roll.
who ya got?
Vamos Rafa! This time of year I often think of Rafa’s super-difficult 2009 victory. And of Toni telling him before the final, “Bad as you may be feeling right now (after his brutal semi final match vs Verdasco) it’s likely you’ll never have a better chance to win the AO.”
Fun comments!…but I’ll take Fog in 4…..and Sandgren in a mild upset.
When I looked at today’s schedule, I knew these matches were difficult to get a good read on. Picking the winner not so much but picking how competitive they would be was not easy.