Yosuke Watanuki vs Felix Auger Aliassime Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Washington Citi Open

Prediction published on 02/08/2023, 02:44  by Daniel Ngulu in Tennis Predictions

Third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime makes his tour return on Wednesday, playing unseeded Yosuke Watanuki at the 2023 Washington Open. The winner of this second-round tie will book a third-round showdown with either 13th-seed Ugo Humbert or unseeded Thanasi Kokkinakis. Watanuki is making his third appearance in Washington and has made it to this round for the first time. Advancing to this round came rather fortuitously though for the Japanese number two. His first-round opponent, Wu Yibing, was forced to retire in the opening set while ahead 4-1. Watanuki has now won 27 of the 42 matches he has played this year with 14 of those victories coming on hard court. His win over Yibing has moved him up to 95th in the live ranking which is a career high for him.

Felix Auger-Aliassime hasn’t been very active in recent months. The Canadian last took to the court at the start of July in Wimbledon and lost his opening-round tie. That was his first match in a month, meaning he has played only one match in the last two months. Auger-Aliassime has had his season blighted by injury. This has restricted him to only 24 matches this season. That has seen him drop out of the ATP top 10. His best performances however have been on hard court where he has a 10-6 record. He will hope for the right fitness levels, to subdue Watanuki and advance to the third round for the third time. Auger-Aliassime has played in Washington twice before and has never gone past the third round. He is currently ranked 12th in the ATP.