Damien Kayat previews selected round of 32 matches coming your way from the 2022 Delray Beach Classic.
2022 ATP Tour
ATP 250 Series
Delray Beach Classic
Delray Beach Tennis Centre, Florida, USA (Outdoor Hardcourt)
Selected Round of 32 Matches- 15th-16th February
Tennys Sandgren 7/4 | Marcos Giron 43/100
This will be the 2nd time that these two former college stars have met in a week. They both haven’t been able to really transfer that college success onto the bigger stage.
Former Tennessee star Tennys Sandgren is the higher profile of the two, having reached two Aussie Open quarterfinals in his career. But the slightly controversial American is fresh off arguably the worst season of his entire career on tour.
He did little to enhance his reputation among the broader tennis community earlier this year, refusing to compete in the Aussie Open due to their vaccine mandate. His Twitter response to Djokovic’s visa denial was priceless. He said, “LOL trusting the science again”.
His form has been dreadful this year despite the fact that he has played most of his tennis on the Challenger Tour. Can he find some solace on home turf this year?
28-year-old journeyman pro Marcos Giron was also a hugely successful college player, winning the singles title at the 2014 NCAA Division I Tennis Championships for UCLA.
But he too has struggled to cement his status on the tour proper. He is actually coming off of a really solid 2021 campaign that saw him rise to a career-high singles ranking of 57.
He reached four tour-level quarterfinals (including his first semi-final at the Sofia Open). He also comes into this event in decent nick, reaching his 2nd ATP semi-final at last week’s Dallas Open.
That was all the more impressive when you consider that he brought down number one seed Taylor Fritz.
Verdict: Sandgren to win at 7/4
This will be their 2nd meeting after last week’s showdown in Dallas. I think that Sandgren will obviously understand his opponent a bit better this week.
I just think that the mercurial Sandrgen will feel much more at home in Florida this week. It’s a more established event and can facilitate a pretty crazy atmosphere. He tends to play his best tennis in raucous environments. I just think there’s great value in a Sandgren victory.
Thanasi Kokkinakis 27/20 | Seb Korda 56/100
Thanasi Kokkinkais has been the surprise success story of this year’s ATP Tour. He has long been associated with that pesky brigade of Aussie players who can’t get out of their own way (just think Bernard Tomic and Nick Kyrgios).
But it seems as if he has found a greater level of maturation this season. He won his maiden ATP Tour title in Adelaide, beating the likes of Isner and Cilic in the process. He then joined public enemy number one Nick Kyrgios and won the doubles title at the Aussie Open.
They courted a little bit of controversy with their rather garrulous on-court antics. I put it all down to a more general post-lockdown hysteria. Now, can he possibly replicate this Australasian form on these sun-drenched hardcourts in Florida?
One thing is for sure- he is likely to encounter similarly rambunctious crowds in Florida this week.
21-year-old American Seb Korda has barely played any tennis this year, testing positive for Covid in the early stages of the season. He did beat Cameron Norrie en route to the 3rd round of the Aussie Open.
But this will be his first match since the year’s maiden Grand Slam. And he should have very positive memories of Delray Beach: he lost in the final here just last year.
The lanky American is almost the mirror image of his Aussie opponent. He stands at 6 ft 5 inches in comparison to Kokkinakis’ 6 ft 4 inches. They both rely on big serves and will look to dominate on their own delivery.
The younger Korda should have the courtcraft if there are enough extended rallies. This should be an exciting opening clash at this year’s Delray Beach Classic.
Verdict: Korda to win in three at 26/10
This will be the first career meeting between these two. Korda should have the advantage when it comes to general play. But Kokkinakis has been quite devastating on serve this year, regularly bringing up a double-digit ace count en route to victory in Adelaide. Korda will have to be wary of this.
But the Aussie also has the capacity to implode at any given moment. This is quite tough given Korda’s relative lack of court time. But I think he should persevere in three tight sets.
