Second-round action in Almaty concludes on Thursday, when Frances Tiafoe begins his week against familiar foe Dan Evans. Adrian Mannarino and Aleksandar Vukic are also aiming for a place in the quarterfinals.
(1) Frances Tiafoe vs. Dan Evans
Tiafoe and Evans will be squaring off for–surprisingly–the 10th time in their careers when they clash in round two of the Almaty Open on Thursday. The head-to-head series stands at 5-4 in favor of Tiafoe (5-3 at the ATP level), including 3-2 on indoor hard courts (2-2 if you don’t include a first-set retirement by Evans in their most recent meeting last fall in Vienna).
This is a great opportunity for Evans due to multiple factors. The 34-year-old Brit is in decent form (reached the third round of the U.S. Open) and already has three wins under his belt this week, qualifying for the main draw before beating Taro Daniel in straight sets. Meanwhile, Tiafoe has not yet played a match in Almaty and he admittedly loses motivation following the U.S. Open every year. The 15th-ranked American isn’t in particularly realistic Nitto ATP Finals contention, so he may not be overly interested in making a deep run at an ATP 250. Don’t be surprised if Evans pulls off a minor upset.
Pick: Evans in 3
Aleksandar Vukic vs. (8) Adrian Mannarino
It will be a battle between two of the flattest and most compact backhands on tour when Mannarino and Vukic collide for the fourth time in their careers on Thursday. Mannarino leads the overall head-to-head series 2-1, but Vukic won their only previous main-tour meeting 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-1 this summer in Winston-Salem.
All signs point to Vukic getting the job done twice in a row. Mannarino has been horrendous this season, saddled with a 13-27 record. The 56th-ranked Frenchman is at least starting to win some matches again, but he needed two hours and 45 minutes to outlast Roman Safiullin on Tuesday. Vukic, on the other hand, successfully qualified at the Shanghai Masters and reached the third round before falling to Tomas Machac. The 85th-ranked Aussie picked up his 20th win of the 2024 campaign by defeating James Duckworth 6-4, 7-5 in the Almaty opening round. An indoor hard court may allow Mannarino to be competitive, but Vukic should advance.
Pick: Vukic in 3
