The three Americans are coming off shaky Australian Open results and won’t have it easy against a field including Frances Adrian Manarino, Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka, or maybe former 2022 Dallas Open champion like American Reilly Opelka can rekindle some of the old magic and make some noise in Dallas.
Join me as we take a closer look at the Dallas Open and preview some of the names you’ll see on the betting boards across America next week. Remember that sports betting in Texas is still prohibited, so these picks are for entertainment only.
Dallas Open Betting Preview
As you can imagine, the draw will be mostly filled with Americans, as 11 of the 28 players in the field hail from the United States. These players were either on the direct acceptance list or were given a Wild Card into the main draw.
Qualifiers will fill the remaining four spots in the draw from their current qualifying event. If a player (s) in the main draw withdraws for any reason, their place will be filled by the highest-ranked losing player from the qualifying tournament.
Let’s look at some of the favorites and some dark horses as we prepare to bet on the 2024 Dallas Open ATP 250.
The Favorites
American Tommy Paul will likely be the top seed. He’s making his first appearance in Dallas and coming off a disappointing Australian Open. The American failed to reach the fourth round of the tennis world’s first major, but the kid never quits. Paul boasts an underrated serve with a return game big enough to take down this ATP 250, but he’ll have some stiff competition from fellow American Ben Shelton.
Shelton has one of the biggest serves on tour with an above-average return game to match. His rise to the ATP Tour’s top 20 has been meteoric, but so have his struggles to string together consecutive victories. Shelton failed to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open, but he has no points here to defend and should at least reach the semifinals in Dallas.
Frances Tiafoe has quarterfinal points to defend here, and he’ll want to remain in the top 20 by playing well in Dallas. Tiafoe is an exciting player with a big serve, but his aggressive all-court game sometimes gets him into trouble. His return game is strong enough to win an indoor ATP 250 event, but he’s 4-7 over his last 11 hardcourt matches, and the field may overtake the Baltimore native early in Dallas.
Don’t Count These Players Out
Frenchman Adrian Mannarino ended Shelton’s Australian Open hopes and arrives in Dallas fresh off a fourth-round AO beating at the hands of Novak Djokovic. He has a sneaky good serve with a better-than-average return game and could do real damage early against some of the young Americans here on a Wild Card entry.
Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka has had the misfortune of some tough draws, but he did qualify for the Paris Masters indoors before crashing into Andrey Rublev in straight sets. Holger Rune needed four sets to dispatch the Japanese No. 1 at the Australian Open, but there isn’t a player in this draw Nishioka can’t beat in Dallas.
Dallas Open Darkhorses
Outside of the five previously mentioned, some players in the field could make some noise on the indoor courts at SMU.
American Wild Card Reilly Opelka is recovering from injury and has played three matches since July 2022. He reached as high as No. 17 in 2022, including winning the 2022 Dallas Open. Opelka has the serve to win an indoor event, but does he have any gas left in the tank?
German Dominik Koepfer has a big serve and a hard-court challenger title to his name in 2024. He also has an erratic serve with a mediocre return game. His serve can carry him a long way in Dallas, but he’s awfully erratic, and his serve can suffer as a result.
Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic reached the fourth round down under and is playing great ball entering Dallas. He has a big serve that can sometimes betray him and one of the best break rates on hardcourts on Tour.
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