Second-round action at the ATP 250 tournament in Houston will conclude on Thursday, when seeds Kei Nishikori and Alex Michelsen get back on the court. Nishikori awaits Chris Eubanks, while Michelsen meets Adrian Mannarino.
(8) Kei Nishikori vs. Chris Eubanks
Wins for Eubanks are few and far between–especially clay. As a result, it is borderline shocking to see him in round two of the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship. That is the case, though, after the 6’7” American avenged last year’s first-round loss to Rinky Hijikata with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 victory on Tuesday. Eubanks is now 2-4 on the main tour this season and 7-18 lifetime on clay.
Up next for the world No. 117 on Thursday is first-ever encounter with Nishikori, who eased past Mitchell Krueger 6-4, 6-2 on Tuesday night. The Japanese veteran is healthy and in relatively resurgent form, back up to 66th in the rankings thanks in part to eight ATP-level match victories in 2025. Nishikori is the far superior clay-court player, too, so this will almost certainly be one-way traffic.
Pick: Nishikori in 2
(5) Alex Michelsen vs. (LL) Adrian Mannarino
Like Eubanks, Mannarino’s appearance in the second round is extremely unexpected. In fact, the 144th-ranked Frenchman was out of the tournament–temporarily, at least–when he lost to compatriot Corentin Denolly in a third-set tiebreaker in the final round of qualifying. However, Mannarino got a lucky-loser spot in the main draw when Nicolas Moreno de Alboran pulled out and proceeded to defeat Yannick Hanfmann 7-6(5), 6-3 in the opening round.
Michelsen stands in Mannarino’s way of the quarterfinals and they will be facing each other for the third time. Their previous two contests came on grass, with Mannarino winning the 2023 Newport final 6-2, 6-4 before Michelsen prevailed last summer in Mallorca 7-6(5), 6-4. The more recent result is an alarming one for Mannarino given that he is a force on grass but terrible on clay. Michelsen is no clay-court guru, himself, but the 34th-ranked American impressed during a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Learner Tien on Monday. Anything other than straight-set dominance in Michelsen’s favor would be a big surprise.
Pick: Michelsen in 2
WWW?
Kei in 2; M’son in 2.
Love Eubanks, but I’d say he’s headed for a career in broadcasting at this rate.
Yes, Kei in 2.
yep
Eubanks saved by retirement.
Not his… that might take some saving
what happened to Kei
Has any player in the modern era had worse injury luck than kei?
at least he’s still playing. Thiem and Delpo ended way too soon.
Of course, they each got a Slam
but I don’t think Nishi was good enough to be slam worthy even if healthy
I suppose you’re right, boss – he never had that one killer weapon
If a player is injured a lot, isnt that going to affect everything about their development as a player, plus the mental side of it, confidence .