There are plenty of young Americans in action in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday afternoon, with Sebastian Korda taking on Vasek Pospisil and local product Frances Tiafoe battling up-and-comer Jenson Brooksby.
(12) Sebastian Korda vs. Vasek Pospisil
Young American Sebastian Korda is celebrating a lot of firsts this week. It is his first main-draw bye, his first seed in a draw, and a career-high ranking of world No. 45. He comes into the Washington event off a run to the Wimbledon round of 16. His last match at the All-England Club was an utterly bizarre encounter with Russia’s Karen Khachanov, which featured 13 service breaks in the fifth set alone.
His first opponent in Washington is Vasek Pospisil, who is ranked 61st in the world. The Canadian veteran has limped through the 2021 season. His best result is a quarterfinal in Eastbourne, but other than that it has been a series of first and second-round exits.
Korda and Pospisil have never played in a main-tour event, but Pospisil won their lone match at the 2019 Knoxville Challenger. Korda is in considerably better form than Pospisil now, as a stellar 2021 campaign includes his first ATP title in Parma.
Cheryl pick: Korda in 2
Ricky pick: Korda in 2
(16) Frances Tiafoe vs. (WC) Jenson Brooksby
In what could be one of the more entertaining matches of the day, No. 16 seed Frances Tiafoe will take on red-hot wildcard Jenson Brooksby. Although Tiafoe is ranked much, much higher at No. 53 to Brooksby’s 130th, this match is by no means a slam dunk for Tiafoe.
Brooksby comes into Washington off a run to the final in Newport. He lost to Kevin Anderson, but he got some revenge already this week by taking out Anderson out in their first round match. Brooksby is ranked low enough that he still splits his time between the main tour and the Challenger tour, but the North American hard-court swing should result in some more wild-card entries.
Tiafoe’s season has been a mixed bag. He pocketed an impressive upset over Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round of Wimbledon, but he was knocked out in the third round by Karen Khachanov. He had a fourth round showing at the Miami Masters, but he is an anemic 15-14 for the year. This is a winnable match for Brooksby.
Cheryl pick: Brooksby in 3
Ricky pick: Tiafoe in 2
Korda in two Foe in three