No.2 seed Tommy Paul will face the challenge of Yannick Hanfmann in the Round of 16 at ATP Houston Open

Tommy Paul has been in decent touch coming into the ATP Houston tournament. The local favourite started 2023 with a bang, making it to the semi-finals of the Australian Open before losing to Novak Djokovic.

He has been very consistent on the tour and made it to the final of the Mexican Open last month. Paul suffered Round of 16 exits at the ‘Sunshine Double’ but he did give a good account of himself in both tournaments. Paul is seeded No.2 in Houston and is certainly one of the favourites to go all the way and clinch the title.

Yannick Hanfmann’s form coming into the match

Hanfmann has made it to the main draw of the tournament after playing two rounds of qualifiers. The 31-year-old German beat Enzo Couacaud and Facundo Diaz Acosta in the two qualifying rounds. In his first-round match of the main draw, Hanfmann defeated Japan’s Yosuke Watanuki 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 in a thrilling encounter to set up a second-round clash against Tommy Paul.

Details:

Date – Thursday, 6th April

Court Type – Clay surface

Telecast – Tennis Channel

Start Time – 04:30 am I.S.T

Location – River Oaks Country Club

Match details – Round of 16

Head to head and Predictions

Hanfmann and Paul have played each other once before on the ATP tour. The underdog Hanfmann emerged victorious on that occasion in 2021. The German defeated Paul 7-6, 5-7, 6-3 at the clay tournament in Cagliari and leads the overall head-to-head 1-0.

However, the American is the clear favourite going into this match both in terms of form and rankings. It will be an uphill task for Hanfmann in this encounter but he is expected to pose a tough challenge. We are predicting a win in three sets for Tommy Paul.

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