(WC) Jared Donaldson vs. (2) Nick Kyrgios
Kyrgios claimed he was going home–meaning back to Australia–while in the midst of losing to 17-year-old Canadian Denis Shapovalov in the first round of last week’s Rogers Cup. But the world No. 18 decided to turn up in Atlanta, where he is able to participate thanks to being unceremoniously left off of Australia’s Olympic team. Kyrgios arrived in Atlanta this past weekend and played doubles on Monday night with little-known countryman James Frawley (lost to Alexandr Dolgopolov and Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-4, 6-0). Although he has not done much of late aside from a decent fourth-round showing at Wimbledon, Kyrgios is 26-11 for the season with a 250-point title in Marseille to his credit.
Pick: Kyrgios in 2
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(5) Fernando Verdasco vs. (PR) Julien Benneteau
Verdasco and Benneteau will be going head-to-head for the fifth time in their careers and for the first time in more than three years when they meet again in Atlanta. All four of their previous encounters have gone the way of Verdasco, whose lone hard-court defeat of Benneteau came 10 seasons ago in New Haven. They most recently faced each other at Wimbledon in 2013, when the Spaniard got the job done 7-6(1), 7-6(4), 6-4.
This is Verdasco’s first appearance in the seven-year history of the Atlanta tournament and he got off to a strong start by defeating Dusan Lajovic 7-6(2), 6-4 on Tuesday. The world No. 48 is 23-15 for his 2016 campaign and coming off a runner-up showing on the clay courts of Bastad. Benneteau booked his place in the last 16 with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over qualifier John-Patrick Smith. It marked only the 34-year-old Frenchman’s second ATP-level win of the season, the majority of which he has missed due to injury. Benneteau can make this one competitive, but Verdasco’s match toughness is far superior right now so the fifth seed should have an edge.
Pick: Verdasco in 3
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Unsure about both but I’ll take Kyrgios in three and Nando in two
I’m just not sure that Kyrios will show enough interest to win….and I KNOW that Donaldson will….and I saw Verdsaco here 2 days ago and he looked sharp….he’ll win in 2.