Hardcourt action kicks off in the United States today at the Mubadala DC Open in Washington DC. The first round features a lot of interesting matchups and on day 1 we’ll cover the all Italian battle between Matteo Arnaldi vs. Lorenzo Musetti as well as the clash between Aleksandar Vukic and Zachary Svajda.
Aleksandar Vukic vs. Zachary Svajda
Two strong servers face each other here, for the first time on tour. They’ve met five times at other events though (Challengers mainly) and Svajda has a big edge with four wins.
Australian powerhouse Aleksandar Vukic carved his way through the qualifying rounds to book this opening-round spot, bringing sharp form and plenty of court reps under the sweaty D.C. sun. On the other side of the net is American lucky loser Zachary Svajda, who is, of course, playing on home soil.
Predictions: Vukic will look to get plenty of points with his heavy first serve and aggressive forehand, against Svajda with his good court-coverage and defence, even though he has a pretty decent serve himself. I can see this going to three sets and that we’ll see at least one tie-break.
Svajda enters as slight favorite today, with an overall better game and a clear edge in their h2h. I think he will progress from this match if he has confidence also on his forehand and no issues physically (he had to withdraw from one of the qualifying matches).
Svajda to win in 3
Matteo Arnaldi vs. Lorenzo Musetti
An interesting Italian derby straight away in the first round in DC as 4th-seeded Lorenzo Musetti locks horns with compatriot Matteo Arnaldi. Both of them will be eager to stamp their authority on North American hard courts and build some momentum. This will be their 4th meeting on the ATP tour and so far Musetti won all of them. The last meeting was played on hard courts where Musetti progressed in a tough match at the 2025 Australian Open, 76(4), 46, 76(5), 63.
Predictions: Musetti has once again had a lengthy time off due to injury and his form is clearly unknown. He was in a similar situation here last year and lost directly in the first round. Even though he has an edge on Arnaldi in their h2h, I think this time he will find it difficult, as Arnaldi has shown great form and sharpness this year and he also played well here last season.
Arnaldi to get his first win over Musetti, in three sets.
