Korea Open 2022: Taylor Fritz vs Mackenzie McDonald preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (3) Taylor Fritz vs Mackenzie McDonald.
Date: September 29, 2022.
Tournament: Korea Open 2022.
Round: Second round (Round of 16).
Venue: Seoul, South Korea.
Category: ATP 250.
Surface: Hard.
Prize money: $1,237,570.
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | Canada - TSN | Australia - beIN Sports.
Taylor Fritz vs Mackenzie McDonald preview
Americans Taylor Fritz and Mackenzie McDonald will square off in the second round of the 2022 Korea Open on Thursday.
Fritz started the season with a fourth-round showing at the Australian Open. After a couple of decent results, he won the biggest title of his career at the Indian Wells Masters, where he defeated Rafael Nadal in the final to snap his 20-match winning streak. The 24-year-old made it to the fourth round of the Miami Open the following week.
Fritz sustained an injury during his quarterfinal run at the Monte-Carlo Masters. After missing a couple of events, he returned to action at the French Open, but lost in the second round. Following a disappointing start to the grass swing, he claimed his second title of the year at the Eastbourne International.
He then reached his maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal at Wimbledon, but lost to Nadal in five sets. His results improved with every tournament in the lead-up to the US Open. However, he lost in the first round of the season's final Grand Slam. He managed to win just one match during the USA's Davis Cup tie.
Fritz competed in the Laver Cup over the weekend and defeated Cameron Norrie in his only match of the tournament. Seeded second at the Korea Open, he received a bye into the second round.
Mackenzie McDonald was up against Pedro Martinez in the first round of the Korea Open. He was in trouble early on as he needed to save four break points for a hold of serve in the fifth game of the opening set. With Martinez serving to stay in the set at 5-4 later on, the American had a couple of set points on his serve but failed to close it out.
McDonald followed it up with a quick hold of his own. Martinez once again served to stay in the set at 6-5, but this time the 27-year-old was able to break his opponent's serve to clinch the set. Neither player managed to create any break point chances for most of the second set.
Martinez then served to stay in the contest at 5-4, but McDonald managed to easily break his serve to win the match 7-5, 6-4.
Taylor Fritz vs Mackenzie McDonald head-to-head
McDonald leads Fritz 1-0 in the head-to-head. He won their previous encounter at the 2019 Delray Beach Open in three sets.
Taylor Fritz vs Mackenzie McDonald odds
All odds are sourced from BetMGM.
Taylor Fritz vs Mackenzie McDonald prediction
Fritz has won nearly twice as many matches as McDonald this season. The young American has been in pretty good form and has made his way to the top of the men's game.
Fritz's serve will certainly give him the upper hand in this contest. He ranks 16th on the ATP tour for service games won. McDonald's serving stats in the previous round against Martinez were pretty good too. He hammered 10 aces, won 83% of his first serve points and didn't drop his serve even once. He'll need to keep those numbers up in the next round as well.
However, a cause for concern would be McDonald's record against top players. He has won just two of his 21 matches against top 20 players. He has faced nine of them this year, managing to win just a couple of sets against them. The odds are stacked in Fritz's favor, who'll be the favorite to come out on top.
Pick: Taylor Fritz to win in straight sets.