The marquee matchup of round two in Stuttgart pits Felix Auger-Aliassime against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard on Thursday. Brandon Nakashima and Learned Tien are also aiming for a place in the quarterfinals.
Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard vs. (4) Felix Auger-Aliassime
Auger-Aliassime and Mpetshi Perricard will be squaring off for the third time in their careers when they meet during second-round competition at the BOSS Open on Thursday afternoon. Mpetshi Perricard won their first encounter 6-1, 7-6(6) on the indoor hard courts of Basel last fall before Auger-Aliassime got the job done 6-2, 6-4 this spring on the red clay of Hamburg.
A third different surface provides the setting for this proverbial rubber match, and it should be a good one since both players are effective on grass. Mpetshi Perricard wields one of the biggest serves on tour, which was on display throughout a 7-6(10), 3-6, 7-5 first-round victory over Roman Safiullin (26 aces). The 21-year-old Frenchman made his Wimbledon debut last summer and reached the fourth round as a lucky loser. Auger-Aliassime has not been playing well and this is his first grass-court match of the year, so Mpetshi Perricard looks poised for an upset.
Pick: Mpetshi Perricard in 3
Learner Tien vs. (6) Brandon Nakashima
It will be an all-American showdown when Nakashima and Tien go head-to-head for the first time on Thursday. Grass is a surface on which Tien’s game could do some damage, but there are generally growing pains for everyone on the green stuff and to say that he is inexperienced would be a gross understatement. The world No. 68 played his first-ever grass-court match on Tuesday and got a retirement from Yoshihito Nishioka after they split the first two sets in tiebreakers.
Although Nakashima is just four years Tien’s elder at 23, he already has plenty of grass-court experience. The world No. 31 is 25-16 lifetime on the lawn after opening in Stuttgart with a three-set victory over an in-form Jake Fearnley. Nakashima’s above-average serve and flat backhand have worked well on grass in the early stages of his career, so he should have the edge in this one.
Pick: Nakashima in 2
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Perricard/Nakashima in three.
This match would hardly be an upset if Perricard were to take it since the odds are almost even, MP barely got past his 1rd match vs. Safiullin, but Safiullin is an underrated grasser, FAA has been to the final here twice and has a Wimby QF to his name, also beat MP recently on clay handily, so this match might be close, but all signs point to FAA coming out on top, FAA in 3.
Well Tien made the Wimby junior QF’s twice, so he does look poised to do well on grass and is already quite adept, his 1rd vs. Nishioka was close before Nishioka retired, though that was a left vs. lefty battle, so he’ll be ready for this one, Nakashima has an alright grass game making a Wimby 4rd a few years ago, but Tien’s leftiness will pose him many problems, Tien in 3.
FAA in 2 and Nakashima in 2.
I notice, I did have FAA in my bracket , mainly because of the Safiullin threat to perricard
makes sense