Atlanta R1 previews and predictions: Karlovic vs. Young, de Minaur vs. Hurkacz

Ivo Karlovic and Donald Young will headline the first night session at the BB&T Atlanta Open on Monday. Up-and-coming Hubert Hurkacz got into the main draw as a lucky loser and will run into Alex de Minaur.

Ivo Karlovic vs. (WC) Donald Young

Karlovic and Young will be squaring off for the fourth time in their careers at the ATP level and for the fifth time overall when they clash in the BB&T Atlanta Open first round on Monday night. The head-to-head series stands at 3-1 in favor of Karlovic, who is 2-1 against Young on hard courts despite losing their most recent encounter 7-6(5), 7-6(3) last season in Delray Beach. A previous Delray Beach meeting (2015) went Karlovic’s way 6-3, 6-3 and the 6’11” Croat also cruised 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-4 at the 2016 U.S. Open.

Young should be in the prime of his career at 28 years old, but it has all fallen apart for him on the heels of a solid 2017 campaign. The American is struggling down at No. 230 in the world with a 3-16 overall record this season (1-9 at the ATP level). He got a wild card this week mainly because he is an Atlanta resident and actually lives at the host venue of this tournament, Atlantic Station. Karlovic is still lingering near the top 100 at 39 years old, owner of a decent 11-14 record in 2018. His huge serve will put pressure on his opponent to hold every single time he toes the line, and that is probably something Young will be unable to do given how short on confidence he is at the moment.

Pick: Karlovic in 2

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Alex de Minaur vs. (LL) Hubert Hurkacz

It will be a battle between two on-the-rise competitors when de Minaur and Hurkacz go head-to-head for the first time in their careers on Monday. Already up to 68th in the rankings at 19 years old, de Minaur has earned 11 of his 13 career ATP-level match victories this season. That includes a blistering start to 2018, with a semifinal showing in Brisbane and a runner-up finish in Sydney. A hot grass-court swing saw him reach two Challenger finals (one title, one runner-up), successfully qualify in Eastbourne, advance to the last 32 at Wimbledon (lost to Rafael Nadal), and fall to Karlovic 6-7(2), 7-6(3), 7-5 in Newport.

Hurkacz started to make a name for himself at the French Open, where he qualified for the main draw (touched off Marco Trungelliti’s famous Roland Garros effort by beating the Argentine in the final round) and defeated Tennys Sandgren before extending Marin Cilic to 7-5 in the fourth. The 21-year-old Pole also qualified at Wimbledon, preceding a first-round setback at the hands of Bernard Tomic. Hurkacz failed to qualify in Atlanta as a 6-1, 6-1 rout of Illya Marchenko was followed by a 6-2, 7-6(6) loss to Thanasi Kokkinakis on Sunday, but he got into the field of 28 thanks to Jack Sock’s withdrawal. The world No. 125’s serve will make this competitive, but de Minaur’s all-court game should make the difference–and the Aussie has far more experience in the main draw of main-tour events.

Pick: de Minaur in 2

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