American qualifiers Ryan Harrison and Denis Kudla will contest their main-draw openers on Tuesday in Memphis. They are set for respective first-round meetings with Malek Jaziri and Thanasi Kokkinakis.
(Q) Ryan Harrison vs. Malek Jaziri
Harrison and Jaziri will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers when they collide in round one of the Memphis Open on Tuesday. This will already be Harrison’s fourth match of the tournament, as he came through qualifying with wins over Chase Buchanan, Alex Kuznetsov, and Filip Krajinovic. The 165th-ranked American, who won last month’s Happy Valley Challenger, is coming off a second-round loss at the Dallas Challenger to eventual champion Tim Smyczek.
Jaziri had an interesting week–to put it mildly–in Montpellier. The 71st-ranked Tunisian took the first set of his opener against Denis Istomin then retired citing an elbow injury. Jaziri would have faced Israeli Dudi Sela in his next match had he advanced past Istomin. Whether he actually has an elbow injury or not, that was not ideal preparation for Memphis. A confident, battle-tested Harrison should be able to take advantage.
Pick: Harrison in 3
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(Q) Denis Kudla vs. (Q) Thanasi Kokkinakis
Kudla and Kokkinakis will also be squaring off for the first time in their careers on Tuesday. Like Harrison, they both pocketed three victories to qualify for the main draw. Kudla got past Daniel Nguyen, Danai Udomchoke, and Robby Ginepri; Kokkinakis beat Fritz Wolmarans, Liam Broady, and Victor Hanescu.
Kokkinakis recently picked up the biggest win of his career at the Australian Open, where he upset Ernests Gulbis in five sets before losing to fellow Aussie Sam Groth in five. Kudla endured a marathon of his own Down Under, holding match points against Feliciano Lopez before succumbing 10-8 in the fifth. The 131st-ranked American was slow to recover and suffered disappointing losses at Challengers in Maui and Dallas. Momentum is on the side of Kokkinakis, whose big game should help him dictate play most of the time and avoid the Kudla backhand.
Pick: Kokkinakis in 3
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