A few picks from the Mallorca qualifying today, and honestly there's more intrigue here than you'd expect from a first round of qualifying. Grass throws up weird results, rankings mean less, and one of these matches has a genuine upset feel to it. Let's get into it.
Mallorca Championships Qualifying Predictions
Zachary Svajda vs Marc-Andrea Huesler
Head-to-head: Svajda 1-0 Huesler
Huesler was once a top 60 player and had a solid grass game, but he's been sliding for a while now and sitting at 308 in the world tells you things haven't turned around. Svajda is in much better shape at 69 and has been building steadily on tour, so the ranking gap here is real and not misleading.
That said, Huesler's serve on grass still makes him dangerous for a set, and the one previous meeting went Svajda's way, so there's no reason to overthink this. I think Svajda gets through but probably needs three sets to do it.
Prediction: Svajda in 3
Alexander Shevchenko vs Abedallah Shelbayh
Head-to-head: First meeting
Shelbayh is a young player with a ranking of 296 and not much grass experience to speak of, while Shevchenko at 96 has been a consistent presence on tour and knows how to handle qualifying-level opponents without drama. First meetings on grass can go sideways, but the gap in experience and ranking is big enough that this shouldn't be complicated at all.
Prediction: Shevchenko in 3
Mikhail Kukushkin vs Damir Dzumhur
Head-to-head: Kukushkin 3-4 Dzumhur
This is the most interesting match of the three. Dzumhur is ranked 105 and is the clear favorite on paper, but Kukushkin at 302 is a veteran who has won on grass before and knows exactly what he's doing on this surface. The H2H is almost dead even, and Kukushkin has taken three of those seven meetings, so Dzumhur has no reason to feel comfortable coming in.
Grass tends to flatten the gap between a 105 and a 302 more than any other surface and Kukushkin's flat, low ball, which is genuinely awkward to handle on this stuff, only adds to that. Feel like this is where the upset happens today.
Prediction: Kukushkin in 3
For full predictions on ATP and WTA matches today, check out Uppset.
Credit Image: © Marcin Cholewinski/ZUMA Press Wire