‘s-Hertogenbosch R2 previews and predictions: Medvedev vs. Mannarino, Thompson vs. Raonic

Daniil Medvedev will begin his bid to go one step farther in ‘s-Hertogenbosch than he did last year when he faces Adrian Mannarino on Thursday. Milos Raonic is also back in action, as he goes up against Jordan Thompson.

(1) Daniil Medvedev vs. Adrian Mannarino

Despite being unable to play at Wimbledon last summer, Medvedev still took part in some of the grass-court swing and reached the final of the Libema Open before suffering a shock loss to Tim van Rijthoven. The world No. 3 is back in ‘s-Hertogenbosch in 2023, this time not only looking to take the title but also in an effort to get his grass-court game in shape for Wimbledon–as Russians and Belarusians are now allowed to participate.

Following a first-round bye as the top seed, Medvedev will get started against Mannarino on Thursday. The head-to-head series stands at 3-2 in favor of Mannarino, who has won two of their three grass-court contests. However, they also squared off in the semifinals of this same event last season and Medvedev prevailed 7-5, 7-5. Mannarino already has a match under his belt, having defeated fellow Frenchman Arthur Fils 7-6(1), 6-4 in the opening round. That could give the world No. 52 an early edge, but Medvedev should be motivated and will likely hit too big for his opponent once again in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

Pick: Medvedev in 3

Jordan Thompson vs. (PR) Milos Raonic

Raonic’s comeback to tennis for the first time in almost two full years could not have gone any better. The Canadian looked right at home on his grass-court stomping grounds and defeated No. 5 seed Miomir Kecmanovic 6-3, 6-4 on Monday.

Up next for Raonic in the ‘s-Hertogenbosch second round is Thompson, who lost their only previous encounter 6-2, 6-1 at the 2021 Miami Open. The 29-year-old Australian is also stellar on grass, with a 55-39 record for his career. Obviously this is a tough one to call and could go either way since it’s still difficult to know what you are going to get from Raonic, but asking him to string together back-to-back impressive performance after being away for two years is probably too much. That is especially the case with such a solid grass-court player in Thompson on the other side of the net.

Pick: Thompson in 3