Brandon Nakashima and Rinky Hijikata will be among those in first round action at the ATP Mexican Open 2025 on Monday, February 24. Here’s the preview, predictions and tips for these matches from Mexico.
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Brandon Nakashima v Benjamin Bonzi Preview
Head-to-Head: Nakashima and Bonzi have never faced off before this.
Brandon Nakashima hasn’t slipped down the rankings charts too much this season but he sure needs some results going his way. Even something like what he did in Delray Beach two weeks ago where he overcame James Trotter and shocked Reilly Opelka to make the quarterfinals before going down to Matteo Arnaldi.
Because before that, Nakashima had struggled to get going, featuring in four tournaments and winning just a round – and that had come against Yannik Hanfman who has been struggling to notch up wins of his own anyway.
The American will take on Benjamin Bonzi for the first time in his career, and one who is coming off some strong performances in 2025.
At the Australian Open swing, Bonzi had featured in three tournaments and won a round at each one of them. He had gone on to make the third round at the season’s first major, his career-best performance at any Grand Slam.
And while Bonzi lost a fighting first round match in Marseille, he has done enough to suggest he might not be a pushover against Nakashima.
Nakashima v Bonzi prediction: Over 21.5 games in the match: 5/6
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Aleksandar Vukic v Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez Preview
Head-to-Head: This will be the second meeting between the 67th-ranked Vukic and the world number 356, Pacheco Mendez. The last time they faced off was in Los Cabos in 2024 and Vukic had won that in two tight tie-breakers.
Aleksandar Vukic had made a solid start to the season with wins in Brisbane and at the Australian Open. In fact at the season’s first Grand Slam, he had surprised Sebastian Korda to make the third round.
Since then, however, Vukic hasn’t won anything at the tour level and while he did help Australia overcome Sweden in the Davis Cup, the Aussie has played three other matches and lost them all.
The good news for him is he has a chance to change that now that he is facing a player ranked so well far down the rankings chart. Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez has a wildcard here and other than playing in the Davis Cup, he has been featuring on the Futures circuit.
The 19-year-old will had a 21-11 record in hardcourt competitions on the lower level and will look to put up a strong show against Vukic yet again.
Vukic v Pacheco Mendez prediction: Vukic to win in straight sets: 1/2
David Goffin v Rinky Hijikata Preview
Head-to-Head: Both of their previous meetings have come over the last six months and it’s 1-1 between them. Goffin won at Winston-Salem last year while Hijikata came back to topple him in Adelaide this year.
David Goffin has had such a woeful start to the season that it looks like that might have forced his hand and made him feature in the Ultimate Tennis Showdown league.
The Belgian had begun the season ranked 52nd in the world but five tournaments, five losses and more vitally with zero wins under his belt, he has slipped down to 65th.
Making matters worse is that Goffin has won just one set in the season so far.
And he takes on Rinky Hijikata, a player responsible for one of those five losses. Hijikata had an opening loss to Novak Djokovic at Brisbane but he came back strongly in Adelaide to enter the quarterfinal despite starting out as a lucky loser.
More recently though, Hijikata has struggled to clinch victories, having lost three of his four tour level matches he’s played since the start of the Australian Open. Still he will give himself a chance against the struggling Goffin.
Goffin v Hijikata prediction: Hijikata to win: 4/6
Miomir Kecmanovic v Daniel Altmaier Preview
Head-to-Head: There have been two previous meetings between these two players – at Acapulco in 2024 and Munich in 2022 – and Kecmanovic has won both of them.
Daniel Altmaier is coming off successive sparkling performances having made the quarterfinals in both, Rotterdam and Marseille this month.
One of those wins was against the 19th-ranked Arthur Fils, a rare victory for Altmaier over a top-20 player which also underlined the kind of confidence he is carrying over to this tournament.
As it turns out and if one is talking about confidence, Miomir Kecmanovic should have an abundance of it right now.
The Serb last took to court about a week ago and he defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the final of the Delray Beach Open to win his first title since 2020.
Earlier, he had made the semifinal in Adelaide and then went on shock Hubert Hurkacz at the Australian Open on his way to the third round.
Backing Kecmanovic for the win here but it might take him some time.
Altmaier v Kecmanovic prediction: Kecmanovic to win: 1/2
