Thanasi Kokkinakis vs Hubert Hurkacz Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP National Bank Open

Prediction published on 08/08/2024, 05:56  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 08/08/2024 at 06:28 in Tennis Predictions

Fourth seed Hubert Hurkacz takes on unseeded Thanasi Kokkiinakis in round two of the Rogers Cup in Montreal. The winner will face unseeded opposition in round two, either Flavio Cobolli or qualifier Arthur Rinderknech. Here's our match prediction.

Hubert Hurkacz is the world number six but there's a big gap to fifth and he can't climb any higher even if winning this hard court Masters tournament. The Pole is playing his first tournament since Wimbledon and his first hard court event since Miami five months ago.

Hurkacz has reached two quarter-finals and a semi-final on hard courts this year. He received a bye into the second round of this tournament. He's played Kokkinakis three times  in main draws on the ATP Tour and won them all. Each was played on a hard court, most recently in Shanghai last year.

Kokkinakis has beaten Hurkacz but that was in the qualifying rounds of an ATP Tour event and played six years ago. The Australian was ranked 81st in the latest list and remains in that position after reaching the last 32 of this tournament for the second successive year.

Last week saw him get to the last 16 in Washington but injury forced him to retire from his match against Sebastian Korda. That's his second retirement in the past few months. One ATP Tour quarter-final has been reached by him in 2024.

He had to qualify to get into the main draw. The final qualifier saw him require three sets to beat Roberto Bautista Agut after losing the first set. Round one of the main draw produced a straight sets win over Gael Monfils. We back Hurkacz to win this match.