Featherweight!

The two players weighing around sixty kilos and among the smallest on the circuit face each other in a tournament generally reserved for big servers (or De Minaur ;)). A boon for both?

Of course when we see the average player profile in Atlanta, it's a godsend. I remind you that Nishioka is a sieve in return: he took 27 aces on 66 service points at Wimbledon against Mpetshi and takes on average 0.8 aces per game on hard (Tennis Metrics statistics calculated over his last 73 matches). Which does not prevent him from generally doing decent performances here in Atlanta (a half and a sixteenth and 2 participations). He is a player who likes to travel around the United States in general. The tough guy is his hobby. Each season, the 3 months on clay & grass in the middle of the year do not make him too happy, and he resurfaces when the hard one arrives to be at his best on the Asian tour. So I'm expecting a tough Nishioka! As for Zachary Zvajda, already, if you don't know the Californian, I advise you to read this little article from the ATP: https://www.atptour.com/en/news/svajda-cary-challenger-2023-feature . The San Diego native is gradually gaining strength and has just had his best season on grass with a victory in particular over Dan Evans. He's a 21-year-old guy who plays clean and likes to go to the net. Against Nishioka, he will have to come up against experience and resilience. His aggressive game places Nishioka in his beloved position of fighter/blocker, but a small advantage: he comes out of qualifying with already 2 matches under his belt and, above all, tame playing conditions. A little extra I think if the rain were to come into this match! Now let's look at the odds 👇