US Open 2024: Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Thanasi Kokkinakis preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (11) Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Thanasi Kokkinakis
Date: August 27, 2024
Tournament: US Open 2024
Round: First round ( Round of 128)
Venue: USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, New York, United States
Category: Grand Slam
Surface: Hard
Prize money: $75,000,000
Live telecast: USA - ESPN | Canada - TSN | UK - Sky Sports | India - Sony Sports
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Thanasi Kokkinakis preview
Eleventh-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas will take on Thanasi Kokkinakis in the first round of the 2024 US Open. Tsitspas has a 36-16 record in 2024, with one title at the Monte-Carlo Masters. The Greek player had major success on clay, including making the final of the Barcelona Open, the semifinal of the Swiss Open, and the quarterfinal of the French Open and the Paris Olympics.
However, the World No. 11 has struggled on hard courts this season. From the standpoint of results, his best hard-court result came at the Los Cabos Open, where he lost to Casper Ruud in the semi-final. In the lead-up to the US Open, the former World No. 3 lost in the second round of the Canadian Open (to Kei Nishikori), and the Cincinnati Open (to Jack Draper).
Thanasi Kokkinakis has a 10-13 record in 2024, which does not bode well for the Australian. The World No. 86 has played in Challenger events and has often struggled to qualify for main draws.
However, the Australian has played some close matches this season. At the Citi Open, he had match points against the eventual champion Sebastian Korda. But he could not convert those opportunities and eventually had to retire from the match in the third set. At the Cincinnati Open as well, Kokkinakis lost an extremely close-fought match against Hubert Hurkacz in a third-set tiebreaker.
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Thanasi Kokkinakis head-to-head
The head-to-head is 1-0 in favor of Tsitsipas, who won the only match between the pair at the 2021 Australian Open.
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Thanasi Kokkinakis odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Thanasi Kokkinakis prediction
Tsitsipas has not been in the greatest of form in the lead-up to the US Open. The Greek player had an integral coaching change in his career as he parted ways with his father Apostolos Tsitsipas as his coach. Moreover, Flushing Meadows has not been a good place for Tsitsipas as the former World No. 3 never made it past the third round in New York.
Kokkinakis has a reputation for playing great first-round matches at Majors. His first-round match against Andy Murray at last year's Australian Open grabbed headlines. In 2024, the Australian had thrilling five-set wins over Sebastian Ofner, Alexei Popyrin, and Felix Auger-Aliassime in the first three Majors of the year.
The eleventh seed will be the favorite on paper to win this match, but given the Australian's reputation, the match can well go the distance.
Pick- Tsitsipas to win in five sets