Frances Tiafoe will kick off his campaign as the No. 5 seed in Atlanta when he goes up against Marius Copil during first-round action on Tuesday. Qualifiers Thanasi Kokkinakis and Noah Rubin are also on the schedule.
Marius Copil vs. (5) Frances Tiafoe
Tiafoe and Copil will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers when they clash in round one of the BB&T Atlanta Open on Tuesday. This marks Tiafoe’s fourth appearance in Atlanta and first as a seeded player, as he is now up to No. 42 in the world thanks to having earned 20 of his 29 career ATP-level match victories this season. That includes a title in Delray Beach, a runner-up finish in Estoril, a fourth-round appearance in Miami, and a recent third-round showing at Wimbledon.
Copil registers 20 spots off his career-high ranking at 93rd in the world. The Romanian has not done much since finishing runner-up on the indoor hard courts of Sofia back in February, although he did have an interesting result at the French Open. That’s where Copil went up against Marco Cecchinato in the opening round and lost 10-8 in the fifth set before watching the Italian eventually go all the way to the semifinals. The 27-year-old should be able to make this competitive mainly because of his big serve, but a clear edge in current form goes to Tiafoe.
Pick: Tiafoe in 3
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(Q) Thanasi Kokkinakis vs. (Q) Noah Rubin
A second-round date with Nick Kyrgios awaits the winner of this one, but for now a favorable draw and a good opportunity is on the menu for Kokkinakis and Rubin. Both players qualified for the main draw, with Kokkinakis defeating Kiranpal Pannu and Hubert Huracz while Rubin got the best of Evan King and Jason Jung. Kokkinakis stunned Roger Federer at the Miami Masters in March but basically disappeared thereafter, struggling mightily on both clay and grass. In fact, the 172nd-ranked Australian has not won a main-draw match since his upset of Federer.
Rubin has slumped since reaching the Geneva second round as a qualifier in May, when he ousted Marcos Baghdatis in the opening round before falling to Fabio Fognini 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-2. The 164th-ranked American is just 4-12 lifetime at the main-tour level, including 1-3 this year. This match will be on Kokkinakis’ racket because he wields superior firepower, and his confidence from two solid performances in qualifying should help him take care of business.
Pick: Kokkinakis in 3
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Tiafoe will win unless he plays a bad match, but he should be motivated here.
I think Kokkinakis vs Rubin will be interesting and it is in my opinion a winnable match for the American!
Tiafoe in 2; Kokki in 2.
Foe in two Rubin in three