Novak Djokovic will be back in action at the ATP 500 event in Astana when he runs into Botic van de Zandschulp as the second round concludes on Thursday. Marin Cilic and Karen Khacanov are also angling for a place in the quarterfinals.
Botic van de Zandschulp vs. (4) Novak Djokovic
Van de Zandschulp got the best draw of anyone in the entire Astana Open first round. Unfortunately for the Dutchman, he got the worst draw of anyone in the second round. After erasing unheralded Kazakh wild card Beibit Zhukayev on Monday, Van de Zandschulp has to go up against Djokovic on Thursday. Although the seventh-ranked Serb has already locked up a Nitto ATP Finals berth thanks mostly to his Wimbledon title, he looks motivated to make up for time that he has lost this season due to being unvaccinated. Djokovic rolled to the Tel Aviv title last week and continued his winning streak by destroying Cristian Garin 6-1, 6-1 on Tuesday.
Although Van de Zandschulp has never faced Djokovic, his history against top-five opponents is terrible (no, Djokovic is not officially in the top five right now, but the Serb obviously deserves to be and would be if Wimbledon had awarded ranking points). The world No. 34 is 0-5 in such matches and 1-14 in total sets. With Djokovic back in daunting form, there is no reason to think anything will be different in this one.
Pick: Djokovic in 2 losing 5-7 games
(9) Marin Cilic vs. Karen Khachanov
Cilic and Khachanov will be squaring off for the sixth time in their careers on Thursday. The head-to-head series stands at 3-2 in favor of Cilic, who most recently cruised 6-3, 6-2 at this summer’s Montreal Masters. Only one of their previous meetings has come indoors and the Croat also prevailed on that occasion (6-4, 6-7(1), 6-4 last fall in St. Petersburg).
Both men are enjoying decent 2022 campaigns, although Khachanov has done almost all of his damage in one big chunk (reached the U.S. Open semifinals). Cilic has been the much more consistent player from start to finish and he has been especially hot of late. In fact, the world No. 14 has won multiple matches at an amazing seven consecutive tournaments–including a semifinal run at Roland Garros and a final appearance last week in Tel Aviv. Cilic, who beat Oscar Otte on Wednesday in Astana, should be able to extend that streak to eight.
Pick: Cilic in 3
who ya got?
Novak in 2 and Khachanov in 3
Novak in two, Cilic in three