In the first round of the Almaty Open, an all-Australian clash sees James Duckworth take on Aleksandar Vukic, both unseeded in this ATP 250 tournament.
Aleksandar Vukic:
- Ranked 85th in the live rankings, up six places.
- Advanced through qualifying and reached the third round of the Shanghai Masters, including a straight sets victory over Casper Ruud.
- Returned to form with four wins in Shanghai after losing four of his previous five matches.
- Holds a 1-1 record against Duckworth, winning their most recent encounter last year in Miami.
James Duckworth:
- Currently ranked 63rd after winning a Challenger Tour event in Hangzhou, following a first-round exit in Shanghai.
- Experienced a four-match losing streak on the ATP Tour before his Challenger win.
- Has only won two consecutive matches in ATP hard court events twice this year.
Given Vukic’s recent form and head-to-head advantage, we predict he will win this match and advance to face either Adrian Mannarino or Roman Safiullin in the second round.