Dallas Open 2024 Day 4: Men's singles predictions ft. Adrian Mannarino vs Yoshihito Nishioka
The action at the 2024 Dallas Open continues on Thursday, with players taking to the court for their second round matches.
Fifth seed Christopher Eubanks lost 7-6 (3) 6-4 to James Duckworth, while sixth seed Max Purcell went down 6-3, 6-4 to Marcos Giron. The two have been the only seeded players to lose so far.
Third seed Ben Shelton put up a dominating performance on serve to score a 6-3, 6-3 win over Michael Mmoh in the second round. Second seed Tommy Paul eased past Taro Daniel 6-3, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals.
Now, more players will be trying to make the last eight here as well. With that, here's a look at the predictions for most of the matches scheduled for Day 4 of the Dallas Open:
#1 - Adrian Mannarino vs Yoshihito Nishioka
Mannarino started the season by taking part in the United Cup. He lost three of his four singles ties, with his lone win coming against Lorenzo Sonego in the group stage.
A poor start to the season didn't stop him from making it to the fourth round of the Australian Open. He scored wins over Stan Wawrinka, Jaume Munar and Shelton, after which Novak Djokovic handed him a 6-0, 6-0, 6-3 beatdown.
As one of the top four seeds at the Dallas Open, he was the recipient of a first round bye. Nishioka crashed out in the first round of the Australian Open and was on Davis Cup duty last week, where he won both of his singles ties.
The Japanese earned a hard fought 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-3 win over lucky loser Terence Atmane in the first round of the Dallas Open. Mannarino has won both of his previous matches against Nishioka, with their prior encounter taking place at this very venue two years ago.
The Frenchman scored an easy 6-3, 6-1 win back then. He's in the midst of a career resurgence and recently reached a career high of No. 17. As such, he'll be expected to extend his winning record against Nishioka.
Predicted winner: Adrian Mannarino
#2 - Dominik Koepfer vs Rinky Hijikata
Koepfer defeated Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-4, 7-6 (5) in his opener here, while Hijikata bested Ethan Quinn 6-4, 6-4 to begin his campaign. Both had a pretty decent day on serve, as the German didn't get broken even once, while the Australian stumbled on serve just once.
For Hijikata, the win also snapped his three-matching losing streak. Following his quarterfinal defeat to Grigor Dimitrov at the Brisbane International, he crashed out in the first round of the Adelaide International and the Australian Open.
For Koepfer, it was just his second win of the year. The 22-year old trails the German in the rankings at the moment, but has the potential to surpass him sooner rather than later.
After finding considerable success in doubles, Hijikata's singles career also started to pick up some steam in recent months. He made it to the fourth round of last year's US Open, his best result at a Major to date. Koepfer could prove to be a challenging opponent for him, but he has the game to make it past him.
Predicted winner: Rinky Hijikata
#3 - Jordan Thompson vs Denis Kudla
Thompson scored a commanding 6-3, 6-1 win over Adam Neff in the first round of the Dallas Open. He didn't face a single break point throughout the match and won more than 80% of his first and second serve points.
Kudla failed to get out of the qualifying rounds here, but got a second lease of life as a lucky loser spot opened up in the main draw. He didn't waste the opportunity and defeated Radu Albot 6-3, 7-6 (3) in the opening round.
Kudla leads Thompson 2-1 in the head-to-head. The former won their most recent encounter at the 2023 Delray Beach Open in three sets, while the latter triumped 6-1, 7-5 at last year's Dallas Open.
The two have had contrasting results since then. Thompson has risen up in the rankings and has broken into the top 50, while Kudla continued to freefall and dropped outside of the top 150.
Kudla is going to have the full backing of the home crowd, but based on their recent results, Thompson will be the heavy favorite to win this clash.
Predicted winner: Jordan Thompson