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Day 3 of the Los Cabos Open will see the tournament's leading stars in action.
After a first-round bye, the top four seeds will take to the court on Wednesday for their second-round matches. Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Casper Ruud, and Alex de Minaur are the four highest-seeded players in the tournament.
Tsitsipas is the defending champion as well, while de Minaur was the finalist here last year. The Australian, along with Zverev, have been among the tour's most consistent performers this season.
Here's a look at the predictions for their second-round matches on Day 3 of the Los Cabos Open:
#1 - Alexander Zverev vs Yoshihito Nishioka
Zverev has been in fine form this season. He was quite instrumental in Germany's triumph at the United Cup. He saved a match point against Hubert Hurkacz in the singles event of the championship round.
Zverev then teamed up with Laura Siegemund to clinch the decisive mixed doubles rubber and claim the title. He continued his good run of form at the Australian Open as well where he reached the semifinals for the second time.
Zverev led Daniil Medvedev by two sets but the latter staged a comeback to defeat him in five sets. Nishioka scored a decisive 6-1, 6-0 win over Flavio Cobolli in the first round of the Los Cabos Open.
Despite Nishioka's impressive start here, it's unlikely he'll get the better of Zverev. The latter leads 2-0 in this rivalry and has won both of their past matches in straight sets. Given their recent results, the German will be expected to continue his winning streak in this match-up.
Predicted winner: Alexander Zverev
#2 - Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Aleksandar Vukic
Tsitsipas won just one match during his United Cup campaign which was against the 314th-ranked Steven Diez. He limited his participation in the tournament due to an injury concern.
Tsitsipas, a finalist at last year's Australian Open, could only make it to the fourth round this time. He defeated Zizou Bergs, Jordan Thompson, and Luca Van Assche before losing to Taylor Fritz.
Given his results, Tsitsipas recently fell out of the top 10 of the ATP rankings. He's ranked outside of the region for the first time since March 2019. Vukic edged past home favorite Rodrigo Pacheco 7-6 (5), 7-6 (10) in the first round of the Los Cabos Open.
The Australian snapped his seven-match losing streak with the win which started with his second-round exit from last year's Shanghai Masters. Given Vukic's rather poor form over the past few months, Tsitsipas has a great chance to commence his title defense at the Los Cabos Open with a win.
Predicted winner: Stefanos Tsitsipas
#3 - Casper Ruud vs Marcos Giron
While Norway was sent packing in the quarterfinals of the United Cup, Ruud remained unbeaten in the tournament. He won all three of his singles ties in a strong start to the year.
Ruud's winning ways came to an end in the third round of the Australian Open with a four-set defeat to Cameron Norrie. He was on Davis Cup duty after that and won his only singles match quite easily as he handed Martins Rochens a 6-1, 6-1 beatdown.
After a slow start to the year, Giron has now garnered some momentum. He made it to his second career final at the Dallas Open where he faced Tommy Paul for the title. The 30-year-old put up a fight but his younger rival defeated him 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-3.
Giron reached the semifinals of the Delray Beach Open the following week as well. The American scored a 6-4, 7-5 win over Taro Daniel in his first match at the Los Cabos Open.
The two have split their previous two meetings evenly, both of which were on hardcourts. Giron won their last encounter at the 2023 Japan Open in straight sets. Given the American's form, he has a good shot at scoring another win over Ruud.
The latter hasn't competed in a while and if he's off to a slow start, he could find it tough to stage a fightback. As the higher-ranked and more accomplished player, Ruud is the favorite but it wouldn't be surprising to see him get the short end of the stick on this one.
Predicted winner: Casper Ruud
#4 - Alex de Minaur vs Alex Michelsen
De Minaur has been one of the most in-form players this season. While he lost his first singles tie against Norrie at the United Cup, he recovered quite well from it. He remained undefeated in his next three singles matches but Australia were eliminated in the semifinals.
De Minaur reached the fourth round of the Australian Open yet again but came up short in a five-set thriller against Andrey Rublev. He was then bested by the year's best player in the final of last week's ABN AMRO Open, Jannik Sinner.
Michelsen bested Constant Lestienne 6-3, 7-6 (3) to get his campaign underway at the Los Cabos Open. The American youngster has shown plenty of promise, but his journey is likely to conclude here. Getting the better of a red-hot de Minaur could prove to be a lot for the teenager at the moment.
Predicted winner: Alex de Minaur
