ATP Marseille Open: Karen Khachanov vs. Mackenzie McDonald 3/10/2021 Tennis Prediction

Third seeded Karen Khachanov of Russia faces unseeded American Mackenzie McDonald in the Round of 16 at the 2021 Marseille Open ATP event. The match is scheduled to be played on Wednesday March 10th, 2021 at 9:50am EST. 

Can the American cause the upset? Or will Khachanov continue his great form and advance to the Quarter-Finals?

Karen Khachanov has been in relatively poor form over the past few seasons. Announcing himself on the world tennis scene by winning the Paris Masters in 2018 and breaking into the top 10, he has largely failed to live up to expectations. Still ranked #21, he has gotten off to a strong start in 2021, and is currently in good form after reaching the Quarter-Finals in Rotterdam last week. While he eventually lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas he was in control for a large portion of the match and will take a lot of confidence from that performance. With a big serve and huge forehand, these courts are perfectly suited to his game style and he will be a very dangerous opponent here. He enters this match as the firm favorite and is favored to go deep into the draw here at the Marseille Open. 

Mackenzie McDonald is currently ranked #120 in the world but has been as high as #57 just a few years ago. He has struggled to string together consistent results lately and currently finds himself playing Challengers and ATP-250 events. After a very impressive Australian Open where he reached the Fourth Round (knocking out Borna Coric in the process) he has continued that form with some good results at the Challenger level, winning the event in Kazakhstan two weeks ago. He was very solid in his opening round win over Italian Stefano Travaglia in two tiebreakers and will be very confident of causing the upset here. While small in stature, he has a big game and can be a threat on this fast surface. 

While McDonald is in good form, I expect Karen Khachanov to have too much quality for him here. Khachanov seems to be back to his best after a disappointing last few years and will be extremely eager to prove that he belongs in the top 10. Expect the American to put up a fight, but Khachanov will win here.