Daniil Medvedev vs Christopher O'Connell Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP US Open

Prediction published on 30/08/2023, 14:00  by Devesh Jaganath in Tennis Predictions

Round two at the 2023 US Open will see world number three Daniil Medvedev take on 61st-ranked Christopher O’Connell on Thursday. The winner of this match will face Felipe Meligeni Alves or Sebastian Baez in the third round. These two have met twice in the past, and Medvedev won both times. The Russian beat this opponent in this competition back in 2020 and, more recently, in Doha earlier this year. He has had an excellent season on the hard surface, which included three consecutive titles in February and another in Miami in March. In those two months, the Russian lost just one match on the hard surface, which was to Carlos Alcaraz in the final at Indian Wells. However, following a fairly average grass swing, Medvedev is yet to click back into top gear. He was beaten by Alex De Minaur in round three in Canada and made a second-round exit in Cincinnati against Alexander Zverev. The 2021 US Open champion breezed past Attila Balazs in the first round in straight sets, losing just two games. He is strongly fancied to progress to the next round. 

Meanwhile, after beating Max Purcell in the first round, Christopher O’Connell pushed past his previous peak ranking of 67th, now six places above that. The Australian has only faced top-10-ranked opponents on two occasions this season and lost both matches. O’Connell’s best results this year have unsurprisingly come on his favoured clay surface, where he reached three quarter-finals and a semi-final in Munich, where he was beaten by Holger Rune. On the hard surface, though, the Australian has only got past the second round on one occasion and failed to qualify for the main draw in both the Canada and Cincinnati Masters earlier this month. His record slipped into negative territory, currently 25-26 for the year and 10-13 on the hard surface. O’Connell did take a set off Medvedev in Doha this year, but his form of late suggests an upset is unlikely in this match.