The second round action at the ATP Auckland Open 2025 will be played on Wednesday, January 8 as Alejandro Tabilo and Lorenzo Sonego take to court. Here’s the preview, predictions and tips for these matches from Auckland.
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Alejandro Tabilo v Nishesh Basavareddy Preview
Head-to-Head: This will be the first ever meeting between Tabilo and Basavareddy.
Alejandro Tabilo won his maiden ATP title here in Auckland last year and is now in a dire need to defend his title heading into the Australian Open. That’s because after ending the previous season on a tepid note – he won four of his last 15 matches – he had a poor start this season too.
In the first competition he featured in at Brisbane, Tabilo was sent packing in the first round itself by Benjamin Bonzi.
Here he had a first round bye and while the world number 23 faces an opponent 110 places behind him, it’s also a player who has shown some spunk in recent times.
Yep, Nishesh Basavareddy is coming off a fighting performance in Brisbane where he took Gael Monfils to three sets and then won a couple of qualifiers here to make the main draw again.
And in the first round, Basavareddy was an easy 6-2, 6-2 winner over Francisco Comesana to seal his second berth. Anything lesser than a 100% performance from Tabilo could lead to a punching loss.
Tabilo v Basavareddy prediction: Basavareddy to win a set – Yes: 4/6
Alex Michelsen v Lorenzo Sonego Preview
Head-to-Head: There have been two previous meetings between these players including one in a Challenger match on clay and another in Winston-Salem last year. Sonego won them both.
Michelsen might have risen to his career-best ranking of 41st in the world but he might not have thought too highly of his performances this year so far.
The American has won opening rounds at both, the Brisbane International last week and the Auckland Open here but it has taken a lot out of him. Last week, Christopher O’Connell took him to the third set tie-breaker in which Michelsen edged him out 12-10 while here, India’s Sumit Nagal who was a 37/10 to win, managed to win the opening set.
While Michelsen did win it in three, he would know things could get a lot tougher against an opponent like Lorenzo Sonego. Like they did against Jordan Thompson in the second round last week which he lost in straight sets.
Sonego was also bundled out of the Hong Kong Open second round last week and was pushed into the third set tie-breaker by Gabriel Diallo here in his opener. What’s interesting to note is Sonego lost his serve three times in the match, broke his opponent just once and faced a match-point in the final set before scraping through.
Expecting this to be another hard-fought match for both these players.
Michelsen v Sonego prediction: Three sets in the match: 6/5
Jan-Lennard Struff v Gael Monfils Preview
Head-to-Head: There have been two previous meetings between these two players, at the 2014 French Open and the 2018 Qatar Open and Monfils has won them both.
Jan-Lennard Struff chose to kick-start his season this week in Auckland and has made a solid start here. The German, who is ranked 42nd in the world, clinched a 6-3, 6-4 win over Y Bu in the first round in a match lasting an hour and 22 minutes.
Despite going into the encounter as an 8/11 favourite, Struff knew he needed to shrug off any rustiness against a doughty customer. And it looked like he had done just that when he held his serve with ease and very soon broke Bu in the opening set.
He grabbed the set soon after and after exchanging service breaks early in the second set, Struff went 5-3 up. Very soon he had wrapped things up.
And now while Struff takes on Gael Monfils, a player who had gotten the better of him on both previous occasions, he would know it’s been six years since their last meeting.
Monfils has had a tough couple of competitions including the Brisbane International where he struggled to get past Nishesh Basavareddy in his opener and then lost to Novak Djokovic again.
Here he was a 1/4 favourite against Pedro Martinez in the first round and was stretched to three sets again. Monfils might not last against someone who is coming off a solid showing in his opener.
Struff v Monfils prediction: Struff to win: 8/11
Sebastian Baez v Facundo Diaz Acosta Preview
Head-to-Head: These two Argentines have been facing off since their days on the Futures circuit and their overall record reads 4-1 in favour of Baez. They faced off at the highest level last year, in Cordoba and Rio and Baez won both those clay court matches in straight sets.
While Sebastian Baez holds a stronghold over Facundo Diaz Acosta, all those results had come on clay. This is a different proposition, especially given that Baez is playing his first match of the season while Diaz Acosta has already been in the mix.
Diaz Acosta featured in the Canberra Challenger last week where he was dumped in the first round bur has come back well this week to make it to the main draw as a qualifier.
And Diaz Acosta then registered one of his biggest wins of his career outside of clay courts when he shocked Cameron Norrie in the opener here. As compared to that Baez had made it past the first round in only four of the nine hardcourt competitions he played last year.
Baez v Diaz Acosta prediction: Diaz Acosta to win: 10/11
