Hubert Hurkacz vs Thanasi Kokkinakis Western and Southern Open Preview and Expert Tip: Kokkinakis to Make Match Competitive

Hubert Hurkacz vs Thanasi Kokkinakis (Western and Southern Open): Tuesday, August 15th

It was a rain-filled day at the Western & Southern Open. Both the ATP and WTA struggled to get through their orders of play, with action going well into the night in southern Ohio.

Our tip on Alexander Shevchenko was postponed until Tuesday.

For Tuesday’s tennis preview, let’s look at Hubert Hurkacz vs Thanasi Kokkinakis.

Hubert Hurkacz vs Thanasi Kokkinakis Expert Tip

Not sure what Hurkacz has done this season to warrant being a considerable favourite. I think the markets are a little generous in terms of weighing in past successes in this spot though.

Kokkinakis is incredibly talented, can stick with Hurkaz in the power department and is also on his favourite surface. The price should be a bit closer than we’re seeing.

Read on for more expert insights.

• Expert Tips: Over 23.5 Games at 1.92 with Pinnacle, using 2/10 stakes. Kokkinakis to win at 2.92 with Pinnacle, using 1/10 stakes.

Hubert Hurkacz Recent Form

The 2023 campaign hasn’t exactly gone according to plan for Hurkacz. After the Pole had reached the highs of the top-10 in recent seasons, people were expecting the man with one of the bigger serves on tour and a surprisingly high level of rally tolerance to continue pushing on.

It turns out, the lack of a return game has been particularly tough for him to overcome in 2023, with the world No. 20 being pushed to tiebreaks on a regular basis and having lost as a favourite 10 times to this point already.

With his forehand being a bit too wobbly and struggling to really generate pace, he finds himself in trouble on that side often – particularly on return when he has less time and his opposition can attack that wing with intent.

Thanasi Kokkinakis Recent Form

Similarly to Hurkacz, Kokkinakis plays a very serve-centric game, with a relatively poor record on return and a game that has always had the potential to be an imposing one, but hasn’t really developed much beyond his serve and forehand.

He’s also a bit better when it comes to hitting an approach shot to get to net effectively and shorten points – a skill that can be key on quicker surfaces.

He’s played the entire U.S. Open series to this point, from Atlanta through Toronto. It’s produced some mixed results for him, with a decent number of victories over some lower-level competition, but struggles against some of the better opposition he’s come up against.

Even in those losses, however, he did push the likes of Ugo Humbert and Lorenzo Musetti to three sets, with a decent chance to win each of those matches.

He should once again prove competitive in this one.

Hubert Hurkacz vs Thanasi Kokkinakis H2H – Stat of the Match

These two have split their previous two meetings, with five sets played and a remarkable 80% of those going to a tiebreak.

That can likely be explained by the stat of the match for this one, with each man breaking serve on hard courts well under 20% of the time.

Throw in each having a potent serve that has seen them hold over 85% each on hard courts in 2023, and you’ve got a recipe for a close match.

Odds as at 4:00 am UK Time on August 15th, 2023. Odds may now differ.

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