Denis Kudla vs Tommy Paul Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Delray Beach Open

Prediction published on 14/02/2023, 07:54  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 14/02/2023 at 08:54 in Tennis Predictions

Tommy Paul is the second seed for the 2023 Delray Beach Open. He takes on unseeded Denis Kudla in the second round and is one of only two seeds left in the bottom half of the draw. Both John Isner and Jenson Brooksby withdrew before the start of this tournament. That leaves Ben Shelton (who Paul beat in the Australian Open this year) as the only other seed in the bottom half of the draw. Paul began this tournament ranked a career high 18th after his run to the semi-final of the Australian Open. The American was ranked 35th before that first Grand Slam of the year.  Since that tournament he's only played a Davis Cup match beating Khomuyen Sultanov who was ranked 480th at the time. Paul beat three top 40 ranked players in the Australian Open and will look to repeat that kind of form in Delray Beach. Last year saw him get to the semi-finals of this American hard court tournament losing to eventual winner Cameron Norrie. Paul won his only previous ATP Tour match against Kudla, that was in Washington four years ago. Before that, Kudla had beaten him four times on the lower Challenger/Futures tour but three of those were at least seven years ago. Paul has improved beyond recognition since then.

Denis Kudla is ranked 95th in the world but was as low as 108th in mid-January. His career high ranking is 53rd but the 30-year-old achieved that seven years ago. Kudla also saw his ranking rise thanks to the Australian Open. He won two qualifiers but then lost to the then world number 188 Oleksil Krutyk. That wasn't the end of the road as he was given a place in the main draw as a lucky loser. He made it to the second round but lost to Ugo Humbert. He also played in the US Davis Cup tie and got a win over a player who doesn't even have a world ranking. Last week in Dallas, Kudla lost in the first round to Jordan Thompson. He got revenge on Thompson in the first round of this tournament but had to come from behind to do so. Back Paul to win this in straight sets.