Queen’s Club R1 previews and predictions: Norrie vs. Kecmanovic, Korda vs. Evans

Main-draw action at Queen’s Club gets underway on Monday, when Great Britain’s own Cameron Norrie headlines the schedule against Miomir Kecmanovic. Another Brit, Dan Evans, begins his week against Sebastian Korda.

Miomir Kecmanovic vs. (5) Cameron Norrie

Norrie and Kecmanovic will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers when they clash in round one of the Cinch Championships on Monday afternoon. Both of their previous encounters have gone the way of Norrie, who prevailed 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-3 at the 2020 St. Petersburg indoor tournament and then rolled 6-2, 6-4 at the 2022 Paris Indoors.

Playing at home on a grass-court surface that he loves, Norrie should once again have a big edge. The 13th-ranked Brit is a former Queen’s Club runner-up (2021) and he made a run to the Wimbledon semifinals last summer before falling to Novak Djokovic. Meanwhile, Kecmanovic is a horrendous 1-6 in his last seven matches with no wins of anyone in the top 300 of the ATP rankings during this stretch. Expect Norrie to cruise in front of the British crowd.

Pick: Norrie in 2

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Sebastian Korda vs. Dan Evans

Korda and Evans will be squaring off for the second time in their careers and also for the second time on grass. They previously faced each other at Wimbledon in 2021, when Korda got the job done 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

The rematch figures to be an interesting one and perhaps of lesser quality, as the 2023 campaign has been a disaster for both guys. Korda started it on fire with a runner-up performance in Adelaide (had a championship point against Djokovic) and a quarterfinal run at the Australian Open, but a wrist injury sidelined him for the next three months. His comeback on clay was unspectacular at best but fortunately for the world No. 31, Evans has been terrible this season. The 33-year-old Brit is 8-15 at the ATP level and even lost in round two of the grass-court Challenger in Surbiton earlier this month to world No. 146 Gabriel Diallo in easy straight sets. Korda is healthy now, so count on him building confidence at the expense of a struggling opponent.

Pick: Korda in 2

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