Friday Tennis Best Bet: ATP Newport, Mackenzie McDonald vs Alex Michelsen
Mackenzie McDonald vs Alex Michelsen Best Bet: Friday, July 21st
Nice easy win for Ugo Humbert against Kevin Anderson, who certainly seemed to slow a bit in his third match in as many days.
For Friday’s bet from the men’s tournaments, we’ll stick with the grass-court tournament in Newport and look to an all-American tilt between Mackenzie McDonald and Alex Michelsen.
In this article:
Mackenzie McDonald vs Alex Michelsen Preview
Fri, July 21st, 18:00 (UK Time)
The Tommy Paul vs John Isner match (another all-American affair!) may draw more headlines in the tennis community, I think this contest has the potential to be the match of the day in Newport.
McDonald is a strong player who thrives in quick conditions, while Michelsen is one of the brighter prospects on the men’s side of things in American tennis and is playing some scintillating tennis at the moment.
As someone who has decent pop, but power that doesn’t really jump off the page, McDonald tends to play his best on grass and on quicker hard courts (like those found down under). That – along with his flat hitting that also plays well on grass – has assisted him in reaching this point, but it should also be mentioned that the 28-year-old had a bye to the second round and then barely got past Australian grinder Li tu in the second.
His grass season as a whole can be considered a success, but the quality of competition hasn’t been the toughest, for the most part.
His young countryman in Michelsen isn’t someone to overlook, either. The teenager is in the midst of a seven-match win streak that saw him win a Challenger event in Chicago and then beat the defending champion in Maxime Cressy and win the final 10 games of the match against a strong quick courter in James Duckworth in Newport.
The soon-to-be University of Georgia player (though his recent success has cast doubt over whether he’ll follow through on going to play college tennis) has a big serve thanks to his height, crafty play and touch that has drawn comparisons to fellow American Jenson Brooksby and smart sense on court that, when coupled with sneaky powerful groundstrokes, can trouble his opponents.
Mackenzie McDonald vs Alex Michelsen Best Bet
We’ve seen the market bet Michelsen down from the 2.56 mark to around 2.47, but I’m not so sure that’s gone far enough. Put another way, that’s still just a 40% chance to win the match, and I don’t think that McDonald has quite been good enough to warrant that level of respect in this match.
With Michelsen just as likely to dictate behind his serve and the fact that he won’t be playing overwhelming power coming from the other side of the net has me believing he is in with a chance to extend his win streak to eight matches.
- Selection: Michelsen to win
- Best Odds: 2.47 (Pinnacle)
- Stakes: 2/10
Odds as at 12:00 am UK Time on July 21st, 2023. Odds may now differ.
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