Citi Open 2023: Frances Tiafoe vs Aslan Karatsev preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds, and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (2) Frances Tiafoe vs Aslan Karatsev
Date: August 1, 2023
Tournament: Citi Open 2023
Round: Second round (Round of 32)
Venue: Washington D.C., United States
Category: ATP 500
Surface: Hard
Prize money: $2,013,940
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video | Canada - TSN
Frances Tiafoe vs Aslan Karatsev preview
Second seed Frances Tiafoe will square off against World No. 75 Aslan Karatsev in the second round of the 2023 Citi Open on Tuesday.
The early hardcourt swing saw Tiafoe remain unbeaten during his United Cup campaign and reach the third round of the Australian Open. He also made it to the semifinals of the Indian Wells Masters and the quarterfinals in Dallas and Acapulco.
The American started the clay season quite well by winning the title in Houston. However, he couldn't sustain the momentum and concluded his time on the red dirt with a third-round exit from the French Open. His grass swing was also rather similar.
Tiafoe claimed his second title of the year at the Boss Open in Stuttgart, which helped him crack the top 10 of the ATP rankings. He was expected to make a deep run at Wimbledon, but lost to Grigor Dimitrov in the third round. As the second seed in Washington, he received a first-round bye.
Karatsev, meanwhile, faced qualifier Kiranpal Pannu in the first round here. The opening set went to a tie-break, which ended up going the Russian's way. He then dominated the second set, losing just one game in it to win the match 7-6 (3), 6-1.
Frances Tiafoe vs Aslan Karatsev head-to-head
Tiafoe leads Karatsev 1-0 in the head-to-head. He won their previous encounter at this year's French Open in four sets.
Frances Tiafoe vs Aslan Karatsev odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Frances Tiafoe vs Aslan Karatsev prediction
Karatsev has been rather streaky this season and aside from a couple of good results, hasn't done much. He does have a win over a top 10 player this year as he defeated Daniil Medvedev in the fourth round of the Madrid Open.
Tiafoe, on the other hand, has been quite consistent with his results. He's also 15-5 on hardcourts this season, which is a whole lot better than Karatsev's 4-5 record. The Russian played at a decent level in his opener, but against a player ranked outside the top 700, he was always going to be at a huge advantage.
Karatsev has been unable the replicate the success he achieved during his breakout season a couple of years ago. Tiafoe's star has continued to rise in the same time period. The American will be the favorite heading into this encounter and a loss would be considered quite the upset given their results so far.
Pick: Frances Tiafoe to win in straight sets.