Murray River Open R3 previews and predictions: Coric vs. Kyrgios, Dimitrov vs. Popyrin

The Melbourne Summer Series returns on Friday following an unexpected 36-hour hiatus. At the Murray River Open, Borna Coric faces Nick Kyrgios and Grigor Dimitrov is going up against Alexei Popyrin in third-round action.

(4) Borna Coric vs. (13) Nick Kyrgios

Coric and Kyrgios will going head-to-head for the fifth time in their careers when they clash in round three of the Murray River Open on Friday afternoon. They have split their four previous encounters at two wins apiece, with Coric most recently prevailing 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 at the 2019 Miami Masters. Their last three meetings have all required decisive third sets, so another good one should be in the cards.

After not playing a match since last February (or winning one since the 2020 Australian Open), Kyrgios is coming off victories earlier this week over Alexandre Muller and Harry Bourchier. Of course, going to a third-set tiebreaker with Muller and battling through two tight sets against Bourchier is hardly encouraging. Coric, who got a bye and then took care of Emil Ruusuvuori 7-5, 6-4, represents a significant step up in competition. Also, at a 250-point tournament the 25th-ranked Croat will likely want it more than Kyrgios.

Pick: Coric in 3

Alexei Popyrin vs. (2) Grigor Dimitrov

For Dimitrov, this is a second straight match for an opponent from the host nation. But this test should be much tougher than the one presented by world No. 232 Andrew Harris. Although Popyrin didn’t do much during the abbreviated 2020 campaign, an offseason and a return to Australia may have been just what the doctor ordered. The 21-year-old has advanced this week with a three-tiebreaker win over Borna Gojo and a more encouraging 6-4, 6-3 defeat of Tommy Paul.

Dimitrov may the No. 2 seed of this event, but he is no slam dunk to reach the title match. In fact, the 19th-ranked Bulgarian has not captured a title since the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals and he hasn’t even made it to a final since February of 2018. This a decent opportunity for Popyrin, who advanced to the third round of the Aussie Open last season and may treat the crowd (albeit a scaled-down one) to another strong run at Melbourne Park.

Pick: Popyrin in 3