Winston-Salem R2 previews and predictions: Tiafoe vs. Murray, Bublik vs. Ruusuvuori

Andy Murray will continue his Winston-Salem campaign when he goes up against Frances Tiafoe in the second round on Tuesday. Alexander Bublik, who earned an opening bye along with Tiafoe, meets Emil Ruusuvuori.

(13) Frances Tiafoe vs. (WC) Andy Murray

Murray was supposed to face Nick Kyrgios on Sunday night, but Kyrgios withdrew less than hour before the scheduled start time because of a knee injury. Noah Rublev replaced Kyrgios and a lucky loser and was on the court against Murray a little more than 30 minutes after falling to Lucas Pouille 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-2 in the final round of qualifying–in a match that lasted two hours and seven minutes. Rubin did not have much left in the tank and promptly suffered a second loss in the span of two hours–this one 6-2, 6-0 at Murray’s hands.

The 34-year-old Scot will undoubtedly be in for a tougher test when he runs into Tiafoe on Tuesday. Their only previous encounter came last summer at the Cincinnati Masters, where Murray prevailed 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-1. Tiafoe is playing better now, having climb back up to No. 51 in the world. The 23-year-old American has lost his opening match in just one of his last six tournaments and he reached the third round of the Cincinnati Masters. Murray seems healthy enough at the moment, but since returning from hip surgery he has always struggled when the competition level ratchets up.

Pick: Tiafoe in 3

Emil Ruusuvuori vs. (5) Alexander Bublik

Bublik and Ruusuvuori will be going head-to-head for the first time on Tuesday. Both players have been busy since Wimbledon, as this marks the sixth event for each one during this stretch. Ruusuvuori has now won at least one match in five of the six appearances after beating qualifier Denis Kudla 6-3, 6-4 on Monday. The 22-year-old Finn’s best result of the summer is a semifinal showing in Atlanta.

Bublik has been all over the place. The 37th-ranked Kazakh traveled from Wimbledon to Newport, then to Tokyo for the Olympics, and then back to the United States for four more U.S. Open Series stops. He is coming off a second-round performance in Cincinnati, where he outlasted Marcos Giron in a third-set tiebreaker before succumbing to Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 7-5. With a match already is belt in the Winston-Salem conditions, Ruusuvuori should have a good opportunity to pull off a minor upset.

Pick: Ruusuvuori in 3