Monday night's all-American clash at the US Open sees Aleksandar Kovacevic tussle Frances Tiafoe in the first round.
The World No. 75 is the undoubted underdog heading into his debut at his home tournament, and he faces an uphill battle against his compatriot seeking to build on reaching the final in Cincinnati a week ago.
Match preview
After failing to make it through qualifying for three years running, Kovacevic will partake at this year's US Open for the first time.
The 25-year-old only turned professional four years ago and is seemingly making up for lost time with 2024 the first time he has made all four majors, having debuted at last year's French Open.
Having suffered consecutive first-round exits in his second Roland Garros appearance and at Wimbledon, Kovacevic seeks to avoid an immediate exit at the backend of the year to reach the second round for only the second time, matching his run Down Under at the start of 2024.
However, the player with one Grand Slam victory faces an uphill task against his countryman.
Despite losing to Jannik Sinner in Cincinnati, Tiafoe's confidence should be elevated after making his second final of 2024, even if it ultimately ended in defeat and a first Masters 1000 decider.
The World No. 20 has typically thrived in recent years at his home slam, reaching the quarter-final last year and the semis in 2022 following consecutive fourth-round exits in 2020 and 2021 and hopes for another deep run this year.
Tiafoe's 17 wins at the US Open outdoes triumphs at the Australian Open (10), French Open (four) and Wimbledon (12), and he seeks an 18th against his relatively inexperienced opponent.
The American's hard-hitting style gets supporters on-side and the entertainer seeks to continue his US Open run of progressing past the opening round for the seventh time on the trot.
Although he may face Ben Shelton, who eliminated him in last year's quarters, or defending champion Novak Djokovic in the fourth round, the No. 20 seed must focus on one match at a time in his home Slam.
Head To Head
Washington Open (2024) - Round of 16: Tiafoe 7-6(3) 4-6 6-3
Tiafoe and Kovacevic's only meeting came at the start of the month in Washington, with the higher-ranked player needing three sets to edge out his opponent.
A tight first set was won after Tiafoe turned the screw in the tie-break before Kovacevic notched the second to force a decider.
However, the World No. 20 responded to claim the decider and advance to the last eight en route to making the semis.
We say: Tiafoe to win in four sets
While Tiafoe is the undoubted favourite to advance to round two, facing a quite unknown opponent could see Kovacevic claim one set, but we are backing the No. 20 seed to get the job done in four.
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