Newport R1 previews and predictions: Young vs. Donaldson, Pospisil vs. Chiudinelli

Wimbledon may have come and gone, but the grass-court season is not yet over. It continues on the other side of the pond in Newport, Rhode Island, where an all-American clash between Donald Young and Jared Donaldson is on Monday’s schedule.

Jared Donaldson vs. (8) Donald Young

Young and Donaldson will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers and for the first time at the ATP level when they meet in round one of the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships on Monday. Their only previous encounter came earlier this season on clay at the Savannah Challenger, where Donaldson advanced to the title match with a 6-4, 6-3 victory. The 19-year-old American has won just a single main-tour match on grass in his career and it came in the first round of this same Newport event last summer; 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2 over compatriot Austin Krajicek.

Although Young is by no means a specialist on one particular surface, he has far more experience than Donaldson on the green stuff. The 69th-ranked American is coming off consecutive second-round appearances at Queen’s Club (as a qualifier) and Wimbledon. Young owns a modest seven ATP-level victories this season, but that almost doubles Donaldson’s career total of four. The veteran, relatively speaking, should have an edge in this one.

Pick: Young in 3

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(5) Vasek Pospisil vs. Marco Chiudinelli

A 2015 Wimbledon quarterfinalist, Pospisil lost his opening match this time around and therefore knew a precipitous drop in the rankings was coming. It happened on Sunday, when the Canadian plunged 55 spots to No. 99 in the world. Of course, he can point to any number of tournaments for his decline; not just Wimbledon. Pospisil is a horrendous 5-17 this year and a disastrous 1-9 in his last 10 main-draw matches dating back the second round of the Miami Open in March. The Canadian’s 2016 grass-court record stands at 1-3, not including successful qualification at Queen’s Club (where he fell to Young 6-3, 6-4 in the first round).

A second career meeting with Chiudinelli (first at the ATP level) awaits the fifth seed on Monday. They previously faced each other three years ago at the Guadalajara Challenger, where Pospisil prevailed 6-4, 6-4. At No. 136 in the world, Chiudinelli is not accustomed to gaining direct entry into ATP tournaments–but that is the case for him this week in Newport. The 34-year-old Swiss is 0-1 on the main tour in 2016 and coming off a second-round Challenger loss to Frank Dancevic last week in Winnetka. A quick transition back to grass probably won’t end well for Chiudinelli, even against an opponent who is lacking confidence.

Pick: Pospisil in 2

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