One week remains before the Australian Open and Adelaide is one of the events on the schedule as players look to get their games in shape for the season’s first Grand Slam. Thanasi Kokkinakis and Alexei Popyrin are among those in action on Monday.
(WC) Thanasi Kokkinakis vs. (WC) Alexei Popyrin
It will be an all-Australian showdown when Kokkinakis and Popyrin go head-to-head for the first time in their careers on Monday night. Kokkinakis is the defending champion of the tournament, having captured his first and only ATP title in front of the home crowd last year. The 26-year-old is coming off a decent effort in the first of two Adelaide events during this Australian Open, as he defeated Maxime Cressy in a pair of tiebreakers before falling to Jannik Sinner in straight sets.
Popyrin played extremely well this past week, qualifying for the Adelaide main draw and then ousting Felix Auger-Aliassime and Marcos Giron. Yoshihito Nishioka stopped the world No. 120 via a 7-6(4), 6-7(8), 6-2 decision in the quarterfinals. It was a long week for Popyrin, so Kokkinakis will certainly have the rest advantage in this one. Look for Kokkinakis to take a successful first step in his title defense.
Pick: Kokkinakis in 3
Brandon Nakashima vs. (7) Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
Davidovich Fokina and Nakashima will also be squaring off for the first time in their careers on Monday. In 2022 Davidovich Fokina was pretty much all over the place. He made a run to the Monte-Carlo final and reached the U.S. Open fourth round, but he was otherwise mediocre at best. The 23-year-old comes in at No. 31 in the rankings and will be seeded for the Australian Open.
Nakashima was much more solid throughout the 2022 campaign. The 47th-ranked American won 35 matches on the main tour, including his first ATP title on the hard courts of San Diego. Whereas Nakashima wrapped up the season by triumphing at the NexGen ATP Finals, Davidovich Fokina ended the year on a five-match losing streak. The Spaniard has not won a match since round three of the U.S. Open, so there can’t be any confidence in his ability to win one now against such a tough opponent.
Pick: Nakashima in 2
WWW?
This is the kind of thread I was talking about. Probably there will be no or almost no comments so it could become non tennis forum. This or a similar one.
Please comment people.
We could also turn one into a WTA thread for Elizabeth and the bracketeers.
amy,
Can we talk about thungs other than tennis here? Elizabeth doesn’t have her WTA thread anymore. I can’t understand why these threads can’t be set up again.
Nny, Yes let’s! There are threads when no one contribute s so we are not depriving anyone.
For the present this could also be WTA until we find a new thread for it.
Let’s carry on on this one!!
So this is non tennis forum now!!
Pop in 3; Naka in a tough 3.