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The first round will wrap up on Day 2 (June 17) of the HSBC Championships 2025 at Queen's Club. Seventh seed Frances Tiafoe's loss to home favorite Dan Evans marked the first big upset on the opening day of the tournament. The Brit scored a 7-5, 6-2 win to get his campaign up and running.
Fourth seed Holger Rune beat lucky loser Christopher O'Connell 6-3, 6-4 in his opener. Veteran Roberto Bautista Agut was among the other winners of the day, beating Nuno Borges 6-7 (6), 7-5, 6-4 to reach the second round.
More players will aim to join them in the next round on Tuesday. On that note, here are the predictions for some of the men's singles matches set for Day 2 of the HSBC Championships 2025:
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#1. Alex de Minaur vs Jiri Lehecka
De Minaur went down to Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the Rotterdam final, his best results on hardcourts. He started the clay swing with a semifinal showing at the Monte-Carlo Masters. Following back-to-back fourth-round appearances in Madrid and Rome, he was sent packing by Alexander Bublik in the second round of the French Open.
De Minaur was the defending champion at the Libema Open, one of the two tournaments in the first week of the grass swing. However, he opted not to defend his title this time. He previously finished as the runner-up at Queen's Club in 2023, losing to Alcaraz in the final.
Lehecka won the title in Brisbane to start the year. He then made the fourth round of the Australian Open and bowed out of the French Open in the third round. He commenced his grass swing at last week's Boss Open in Stuttgart, losing to Ben Shelton in the quarterfinals.
De Minaur won the pair's only encounter at the Davis Cup Finals 2023 in three sets. Additionally, the Aussie's 32-17 career record on grass, including a couple of titles, trumps his opponent's 7-6 record on the surface, thus making him the favorite to win this match.
Predicted winner: Alex de Minaur
#2. Gabriel Diallo vs Billy Harris
Diallo made the last eight at the Madrid Open, his first quarterfinal at the Masters 1000 level. He has already overshadowed his previous career highlight with his title-winning run at the Libema Open. He captured his maiden ATP title with a win over Zizou Bergs in the final. He also saved a couple of match points in the second round.
Harris has a 0-7 record at the main draw level on the ATP Tour. He registered the best results of his career during last year's grass swing. He made the quarterfinals at Queen's Club and went a round further at Eastbourne.
Harris won their only prior meeting in Newport last year, another tournament on grass. However, a lot has changed since then. Diallo is the one with momentum on his side right now, and he should be able to sustain it to extend his winning streak.
Predicted winner: Gabriel Diallo
#3. Ben Shelton vs Arthur Rinderknech
Shelton has performed quite well throughout the season, albeit a little inconsistently. He reached the semifinals of the Australian Open, the quarterfinals at Indian Wells, and was the runner-up in Munich. He also advanced to the fourth round of the French Open for the first time, losing to Alcaraz.
Shelton was in Stuttgart last week for his first tournament on grass. He lost to Alexander Zverev in the semifinals. However, there was a silver lining despite losing to the German. His result in Stuttgart was enough to secure his place in the top 10 of the rankings for the first time.
Rinderknech has a 5-15 record this year. He initially lost in the qualifying rounds at Queen's Club but got into the main draw as a lucky loser. His second chance is likely to be brief as his string of poor results makes him a massive underdog against Shelton. The full preview for the match can be found here.
Predicted winner: Ben Shelton
#4. Alexei Popyrin vs Aleksandar Vukic
Popyrin underperformed on hardcourts but stepped up his game during the clay season. He progressed to the quarterfinals of the Monte-Carlo Masters and the fourth round of the French Open. The high from achieving his career-best result at the clay court Major didn't last for too long, losing to Bergs in the first round of last week's Libema Open.
Aside from a third-round showing at the Australian Open, Vukic's season has been quite dire. He has a 5-13 record for the season so far. He was sent packing in the first round of the Libema Open by Diallo. He came through the qualifying rounds at Queen's Club with routine wins over Juan Manuel Cerundolo and Adam Walton. He has a 10-9 career record on grass.
Popyrin has a 0-3 record at Queen's Club and a 6-15 record on grass. He has performed quite poorly at the venue and on the surface, especially compared to his compatriot. However, he still has the edge to win this all-Aussie duel, given his opponent's rather poor form throughout the season.
Predicted winner: Alexei Popyrin
