Delray Beach Open Round of 16: After going 13-3 in the 1st round, Neal Abrams looks for winners in Wednesday-Thursday action
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. -- The final two matches of the first round were played last night under the lights in the fabulous stadium here and produced some exciting tennis and a few surprises as this little gem of an ATP 250 Tennis tournament steps into the Round of 16 today.
Last night, the dinnertime crowd greeted both defending champion Radu Albot and American Jack Sock with enthusiasm and warmth as they put on a nice show that resulted in Sock’s first ATP win in more than a year. The win, in a third set tiebreaker, was far from secure for Sock after losing the first set, but the veteran hung tough, took the second set, and after trading breaks early in the third, cruised into a third set tiebreaker. It was a stunning comeback for Sock that hopefully for him will turn his career back in the right direction. Sock now has Stevie Johnson standing in front of him in the draw.
That match was followed by what would have been a marquee matchup between Nick Kyrgios and Tommy Paul, but saw Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan replace Kyrgios in the draw when the Australian pulled out of the tournament. Paul played almost error-free tennis in basically decapitating Galan on the hard court stadium that appeared Taylor-made for the American. Next up for Paul will be a really tough match with compatriot Frances Tiafoe.
Today’s Featured matches include Soonwoo Kwon taking on Ryan Harrison, American Brandon Nakashima against Cam Norrie, Mackie McDonald versus Reilly Opelka, and Noah Rubin playing Yoshihito Nishioka. Tonight, the Bryan Brothers revisit one of their favorite venues, the Delray Stadium, with an opponent unnamed as of now.
Here are my second round predictions:
After going 13-3 in the first round, the picking gets a bit harder. I don’t want to get cocky, so if I go better than .500 on these second round matches I’ll feel satisfied.
Tommy Paul over Frances Tiafoe
Ugo Humbert over Miomir Kecmanovic
Brandon Nakashima over Cam Norrie
Noah Rubin over Yoshihito Nishioka
Ryan Harrison over Soonwoo Kwon
Reilly Opelka over Mackie McDonald
Jack Sock over Stevie Johnson
Milos Raonic over Cedrik-Marcel Stebe