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The remaining men's singles first-round matches of the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships will be played in Houston on Tuesday, April 1. Sixth seed Jordan Thompson will be the highest-ranked player in action on Day 2 of the event.
The top four seeds, Tommy Paul, Frances Tiafoe, Alejandro Tabilo, and Brandon Nakashima received a bye in the first round. Fifth seed Alex Michelsen won his first-round match on Monday.
Let's have a look at the predictions for the men's singles matches on the second day of the championships.
#1. Jordan Thompson vs Ethan Quinn
30-year-old Jordan Thompson will face the American youngster Ethan Quinn in one of the most interesting matches of the day. Thompson and Quinn are meeting on the ATP Tour for the first time and their only previous meeting was at the Charleston Challenger in 2022, when the Australian won 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.
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World No. 130 Ethan Quinn reached his career-high ranking this week. He started the year ranked 202, but reached the final of the Canberra Challenger, where he lost to Joao Fonseca in the final.
Quinn, who received a wildcard in Houston, has never won an ATP Tour match on clay court yet but did win his first-round matches at the Dallas Open and Delray Beach Open in February. He qualified for the main draw of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and Miami Open but lost in the first round of both events.
Jordan Thompson will be the favorite to win this match, given his experience and relatively better run of results of late. Thompson defeated USA's Marcos Giron and France's Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard at the Miami Open, before losing to the top seed Alexander Zverev.
This is Thompson's sixth main draw appearance in Houston and he reached the quarterfinals here in 2019 and 2024.
Prediction: Jordan Thompson to win.
#2. Mackenzie McDonald vs Daniel Elahi Galan
Mackenzie McDonald will face Colombia's Daniel Elahi Galan in the first round in Houston. McDonald has won both previous meetings between the two on the ATP Tour in 2023 (Miami Open and Adelaide International). They also met on the clay court at the Heilbronn Challenger in 2021, with the Colombian coming out on top.
McDonald started the year as World No. 131 but climbed back in the Top 100 after a decent run in February and March. The American reached the final of the San Diego Challenger and then defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the first round at the BNP Paribas Open. He also qualified for the Miami Open but lost to Nick Kyrgios in the opening round.
Meanwhile, 28-year-old Daniel Elahi Galan is much better on clay and he reached the semifinals in Houston on his debut at the event in 2019. Featuring as a qualifier, Galan defeated Steve Johnson and Jordan Thompson to reach the last four, where he lost to Casper Ruud.
On the other hand, Mackenzie McDonald has never won a match in his previous three appearances in Houston, thus making the Colombian the favorite to go through this time.
Prediction: Daniel Elahi Galan to win.
#3. Yannick Hanfmann vs Nicolas Moreno De Alboran
Yannick Hanfmann will face USA's Nicolas Moreno De Alboran in another interesting match of the day. Their previous meeting was also on the clay court last year at the EFG Swiss Open in Gstaad, in which the German won 7-6(2), 6-7(2), 6-4.
Hanfmann will be the favorite to win this match again, as he has a much better record on the clay courts. He reached the semifinals in Houston two years ago when he knocked out Tommy Paul in the second round. The 33-year-old has reached the finals of two ATP Tour events in his career, both of them on the clay courts in Gstaad (2017) and Kitzbuhel (2020).
On the other hand, his American opponent will be playing his first event of the season, as he was out due to an injury. It will be Alboran's first appearance in Houston and he has never reached the final of any ATP Tour event in his career.
Prediction: Yannick Hanfmann to win.
