Jack Draper made a tremendous start at the 2024 Mexican Open with a very impressive win over Tommy Paul, but can he keep it going against Yoshihito Nishioka?
The British player didn't look very good in Los Cabos last week, losing to Thanasi Kokkinakis in a very interesting match, but he did much better this time around. Tommy Paul is a tough player, but he had one of his bad days yesterday, which allowed Draper to cruise in that one.
This is a hugely important year for Draper, who is still juggling between amazing performances like the one he had at the UTS in London and the one like last week in Los Cabos.
His next opponent is quite similar in that regard, as Nishioka also struggles with that. He can be great, but then he can also play quite badly, and we never really know what might happen. For example, he lost in the qualifiers here but won as a lucky loser in the first round.
They never played before, but we kind of know how things might go here. The courts play somewhat slow, and the ball bounces quite high, so it will come down to who can really outlast the other in the rallies.
Draper has the better serve and will be able to create a lot of pressure there, but I'm not sure he's better in rallies. It depends on the day. On his best day, Nishioka can hold his own in rallies, but generally, Draper seems to be more stable.
| Jack Draper | Yoshihito Nishioka | |
| 0 | H2H | 0 |
| 82 | Rank | 50 |
| 28 | Age | 22 |
| 4-3 | 2024 W/L | 5-3 |
| 119-134 | Career W/L | 45-34 |
The Brit has seemingly found something this week, so I'll back him to win this one as well. Nishioka is a bit too unstable at times, and he hasn't been spectacularly impressive lately.
Prediction: Jack Draper to win in two sets.