By Alessandro Mastroluca
- Kyle Edmund beat Yasutaka Uchiyama. He will meet German Daniel Koepfer for the first time
- Cameron Norrie defeated wild card Brian Shi. He awaits Jason Jung who claimed three of his five ATP main draw wins in New York
NEW YORK, USA – Kyle Edmund bids to move to the second quarterfinal of the season, while Cameron Norrie hasn’t reached that stage since Atlanta last summer
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Kyle Edmund [8] def. Yasutaka Uchiyama 7-5 6-4
British No. 3 Kyle Edmund completed a 7-5 6-4 win over Japan’s Yasutaka Uchiyama, handing him a fifth straight defeat, as he reached the round of 16 at the New York Open.
The No.8 seed won 86% (30/35) of his first-serve points against the Japanese, who defeated him in Brisbane last year taking the biggest win of his career. Uchiyama, forced to withdraw from the ATP Cup due to a leg injury, is struggling to come back to his standards having lost to Mikael Ymer in his debut match of the season at the Australian Open.
Kyle Edmund [8] v Dominik Koepfer | First meeting
Aiming to reach the second quarter-final of the season, as he fell at that stage in Auckland, the Brit will World No.94 Dominik Koepfer for the first time. The solid German defeated Canadian Brayden Schnur, who finished runner-up last year in New York.
Koepfer completed a Cinderella run last year at the US Open where he defeated No. 18 Nikoloz Basilashvili for the biggest win of his career and reached the fourth round as a qualifier.
A former NCAA All-American at Tulane University, the German earned No. 1 individual college ranking during his junior season and graduated with a degree in finance. He’s a late bloomer, whose career changed after meeting coach Rhyne Williams. He redefined his game and totally changed his off-court approach. Koepfer began a more dedicated regimen in the gym and a committed diet.
As a consequence, he built an American old school game, largely based on powerful serves and forehands. Hardcourt suits his style, although he fell to qualifier Martinez in his Australian Open main draw debut. In 2020, however, he moved to the semifinals in Dallas and the quarter-finals in Bendigo at Challenger level.
Complexities and subtleties won’t have a part in a match like this. Whoever will hit harder and more consistently, will predictably win.
Prediction: Edmund in three sets
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Cameron Norrie [7] def. Brian Shi (WC) 7-5 6-3
Seventh seed Cameron Norrie came back from 2-4 in the first set to defeat Harvard student Brian Shi, who traveled back to his college to sit in his classroom after a night quite hard to forget.
A disciplined student-athlete, he tried not to get too high after the first games and not to get too low after the defeat. The Jericho-born teenager looked excited to work on his game after his main draw Tour-level debut.
The Brit managed to break five times from seven looks and claimed a much-needed win after a couple of first-round losses at Auckland and Australian Open.
Cameron Norrie (7) v Jason Jung (Q, TPE) | Jung leads H2H 1-0
Norrie will meet qualifier Jason Jung to clinch his first ATP quarterfinal since Atlanta last July. The British left-hander lost his only previous clash against the World No.131, in the first round at the 2017 Aptos Challenger in straight sets.
The qualifier from Chinese Taipei, who idolised Fabrice Santoro when he was younger, reached the quarter-finals in New York last year. He continued his love affair with the tournament, where he completed three of his five ATP main draw victories, as he upset 2018 champion Kevin Anderson 7-6(6) 6-4.
Before this week, Jung had failed to qualify at the Australian Open and reached the third round in Dallas and the second round in Newport Beach at Challenger-level.
Jung can cover the court quickly, he’s light and agile and knows how to hit the ball on the rise. His forehands are often deeper and flatter than his backhands. Off that side, he tends to work the ball and play with more margins. Norrie could consequently create a significant edge using his lefty crosscourt forehands to force him to defend off the backhand side and dictate play. Jung is expected to set a high tempo, Norrie will need to maintain his range and his focus to seal the win.
Prediction: Norrie in straight sets
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