Cameron Norrie leads the first round action at the ATP Auckland Open 2025 on Tuesday, January 7 as the preparations for the Australian Open reach their crescendo. Here’s the preview, predictions and tips for these matches from Auckland.
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Cameron Norrie v Facundo Diaz Acosta Preview
Head-to-Head: There have been two previous meetings between these two players, at the 2023 Buenos Aires Open and 2024 Wimbledon, and Norrie has won them both.
Norrie had a mixed start to the season last week when he made the quarterfinal of the Hong Kong Open following a couple of wins but then fell to the returning Kei Nishikori.
The Briton did not have a lot of trouble getting past Learner Tien there but needed three sets to get past Lorenzo Sonego despite starting out a 3/5 favourite in that encounter. And while Norrie was 7/10 to get past Nishikori as well, he was found wanting there, losing in three.
He could have easily skipped over directly to the Australian Open following that showing but Norrie hasn’t had the best of seasons in 2024 and any kind of extra match practice will help him improve in its lead-up.
And Norrie would like to believe that this match against the 78th-ranked Facundo Diaz Acosta, who is a clay-court specialist, will be a bit of practice.
Acosta is coming off a first round loss at the Canberra Challenger and would have failed to qualify for this tournament after losing in the qualifiers. He makes it through as a lucky loser and Norrie shouldn’t have a lot of problem getting past him.
Norrie v Acosta prediction: Norrie to win in straight sets: 1/2
Gabriel Diallo v Lorenzo Sonego Preview
Head-to-Head: Diallo and Sonego have never faced off before this.
Once ranked 21st in the world, Sonego managed to upset Brandon Nakashima in his first match of the season. Having gone into that encounter as a 7/5 underdog that was a shock result alright.
Sonego, however, failed to make it two shocks in a row as he fell to Cameron Norrie (check the above section for the Norrie preview). That result made it par for the course for Sonego who doesn’t have the best of records in hardcourt competitions over time.
In fact, considering all competitions at every level, the last time Sonego had a positive win-loss on this surface was way back in 2019.
His opponent in this encounter, Gabriel Diallo might not have ever been ranked higher than 87th in the world, but plays solidly in hardcourt tournaments.
That could be seen from the manner in which he first defeated Lung Ng and Hugo Grenier in the qualifiers of the Hong Kong Open last week before getting past Robert Carballes Baena in the opener there. The other Lorenzo, Musetti, got the better of him in the second but he will begin this one on a lot more confident note.
Diallo v Sonego prediction: Diallo to win: 17/20
Flavio Cobolli v Luca Nardi Preview
Head-to-Head: While they have never faced off at the highest level, there has one match that Cobolli won in the qualifiers of the Umag Open in 2023 and another that Nardi clinched in the Next Gen Finals that very year.
In a battle between Flavio Cobolli ranked 32nd in the world and his opponent, Luca Nardi who is the world number 90, there’s not much surprise who the favourite here. Cobolli starts off at odds on 9/25 to win this and we see no reason not to back him.
For one, Cobolli is coming off a solid showing in the United Cup in which he led Italy to the next round with two wins from as many matches – against Dominic Stricker and Ugo Humbert.
And while he lost to Tomas Machac in the third match, Cobolli can take a lot of positives out of it.
On the other hand, Nardi will make his 2025 splash with this tournament but he needed to make it through the qualifiers to feature in the main draw. And while he did that, Nardi needed three sets in both those rounds against Daniel Masur and Facundo Diaz Acosta to get there.
Cobolli can be expected to take full toll of his opponent’s struggles on this surface.
Cobolli v Nardi prediction: Cobolli to win: 9/25
Nishesh Basavareddy v Francisco Comesana Preview
Head-to-Head: Basavareddy and Comesana have never faced off in a competitive match before this.
Nishesh Basavareddy looks ready to win his first main draw match of the season and why I say this has to do with the manner in which he has gone about his business this season.
The 19-year-old American won both his qualifiers at the Brisbane International last week to make it to the main draw where he was stopped by the far more experienced Gael Monfils. Still, Basavareddy took him to three sets there.
Here, Basavareddy has already defeated Botic van de Zahndschulp and Daniel Altmaier to enter the first round here and is up against a player who barely plays hardcourt matches, let alone with them.
In fact Francisco Comesana was knocked out of this tournament in the qualifiers itself by Zizou Bergs but made the main draw as a lucky loser. The hungry Basavareddy could well ensure he doesn’t go too far from here.
Basavareddy v Comesana prediction: Basavareddy to win AND Under 20.5 games in the match: 6/5
Other Auckland Open 2025 Predictions of the Day
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