Ramanathan – Young

Ramkumar Ramanathan will take on home favorite Donald Young in the first round at Delray Beach.

The 140th ranked Ramanathan had reasonable success so far this year, posting a 5-3 win loss record, although most of his wins came in the qualifying stages of ATP Tournaments. The Indian player had to play qualies here in Delray Beach as well, and he actually played some of his best tennis in the last couple of days. He defeated Kozlov and Fratangelo (who was the top seed in the qualifying tournament) in straight sets, and pretty easy as well – losing a combined total of just 11 games against those two players.

Donald Young played just three matches this year and lost all of them, against Joao Sousa (1-2, Auckland), Novak Djokovic (0-3, Australian Open), and against Ryan Harrison (0-2 last week in New York). The American is definitely not in good form right now and he wasn`t in good form at the end of last season either, so there are clearly some problems in his game that he is struggling with.

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This will be the first meeting between the two players. Both are hard court experts, so the surface won`t be an advantage or disadvantage for any one of them. Ramanathan is a player who is more on the aggressive side and often likes to serve and volley, while Young is a baseliner, so it will be a bit of a contrast in styles.

Young is the better player overall and playing at home will be an advantage, as he often raises his game in these ATP 250 tournaments played on US soil. However, that wasn`t the case last week in New York, and his form (both long term and short term) doesn`t suggest that big changes in his game will occur this week.

Ramanathan is in much better form at the moment and his results in qualies were impressive. He`s playing well and has rhythm, which is exactly what Young doesn`t have.

Young will have to deal with Ramanathan’s aggressiveness and will need to be on his toes defensively, but he is just not steady enough right now to regularly pass his opponent at the net, or to consistently keep the ball in play in order to force mistakes from the Indian.

It will be difficult for Young to regain his rhythm against a confident, in form and aggressive player, so I believe Ramanathan should at least be able to keep this close. My tip will be Ramanathan to cover the +2,5 game handicap and I wouldn`t be surprised if he ends up winning the match. Prediction: Ramkumar Ramanathan – Donald Young 7-6 7-5.

Pick: Ramanathan +2,5 game handicap
Odds: 1.95 @ 1xBet
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 7.60
Event date: 19 February