Rinky Hijikata vs Christopher Eubanks Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Houston

Prediction published on 30/03/2024, 08:04  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 30/03/2024 at 16:39 in Tennis Predictions

Fifth seed Christopher Eubanks faces unseeded Rinky Hijikata in the first round of the US clay court championships. Up next in Houston for this ATP 250 tournament are either Duje Adjukovic or Brandon Nakashima, both of whom are unseeded. Eubanks is currently 41st in the live rankings so will need some good results to be seeded at the upcoming Roland Garros Grand Slam tournament. He's slipped out of the top 32 after losing the ranking points earned when reaching the last eight in Miami in 2023. He lost in round three there this year to Alexander Zverev. That was on an outdoor hard court and now the American begins his 2024 clay court season. It's not a surface that the 29-year-old has played on a great deal. Last year saw him get to the last 16 in Geneva but lose in round one at Roland Garros to Holger Rune. That came after five years in which he'd lost in the qualifying rounds of the French Open.

Rinky Hijikata is down at 78th in the live rankings. He leads Eubanks 1-0 in previous meetings but that was an outdoor hard court match played three years ago. The Australian is on a losing streak at present with his last four matches all ending in defeat. Like his opponent he hasn't had a great amount of success on clay. 2023 saw play just two matches on this surface and he lost them both. That included a first qualfying round at Roland Garros. He did win an ITF clay court tournament in 2021 when ranked outside the top 500. We go for Eubanks to win this match.