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Kevin Anderson and John Isner will square off on Wednesday evening in the second round at the ATP 250 event held on indoor hard courts in Dallas.
Anderson has been quite poor in the last couple of years and it really seems like the end is very near for the former Wimbledon finalist. Anderson started the season with two straight sets losses against Munar (Melbourne Summer Set) and Opelka (Australian Open) before claiming his first win since October earlier this week. It was a 6-4 6-4 victory against Sam Querrey, an uneventful match against another player with one foot out the door as far as the ATP tour is concerned.
Isner (who had a bye in the first round here) isn’t doing much better these days either. In fact, after beating Schnur in his season debut, Big John has now lost four matches in a row, but at least he was able to be competitive and almost got past two in-form opponents in his last two outings (1-2 vs Kokkinakis, 2-3 vs Cressy).
Isner leads the H2H 8-5, but this will be the first meeting on indoor hard courts. Both players are competent on this surface, although Kevin Anderson has a slightly better career record in this environment.
Neither Isner or Anderson are playing anywhere near their best right now, which should translate in a serve-dominated match – something which you would expect anyway between these huge servers. I don’t see any of the two being able to get any rhythm on the return the way they are playing these days, particularly in fast indoor hard conditions.
Seven of the thirteen H2H meetings (including 5 of the last 7, and the previous two) saw a tiebreak being played in the first set. I think the chances for this to happen again are well above 60%, so I find value in the odds. Look for both Isner and Anderson to struggle on the return until maybe one of them starts getting the upper hand later in the match. Prediction: Kevin Anderson – John Isner 7-6 6-7 4-6.
Pick: over 12,5 games in the first set
Odds: 1.88 @ 1xBet
Stake: 7
Possible profit: 6.16
Event date: 9 February
