World number 54 JJ Wolf faces fellow American and 137th-ranked Denis Kudla in the second round of the 2023 ATP Houston Open on Wednesday, April 5. Get the predictions and odds of this JJ Wolf v Denis Kudla match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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JJ Wolf v Denis Kudla Head to Head
While this will be their first meeting at the highest level, they have faced off four times before this. And all of those matches came on the Challenger circuit with both players having won two apiece.
This will also be their first meeting on clay.
Also Read:
Wolf Faces No Worries against Thompson
Despite a good start to the season for Wolf, he had seen some early exits in the more recent competitions. Add that to the fact that he hasn’t had a lot of experience of playing on clay and it was quite understandable to see him start as long as 8/11 to beat Jordan Thompson in the opener.
In the end, Wolf did not have a lot of difficulties in sending Thompson home, winning 6-3, 6-2 to grab his second round berth.
The match lasted a mere hour and 15 minutes and saw Wolf break his opponent three times – once in the first and two times in the second set. Add to that the fact that the American himself faced no break-points and you are looking at one of the more straightforward opening round wins of this tournament.
Interestingly, this was Wolf’s second career win at the highest level on clay with the first having come in this very tournament last year. He had surprised Jenson Brooksby in the tournament opener in 2022.
Can he now triple his clay-court win count?
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Kudla Overcomes Odds, Vukic
With just two main draw wins this season under his belt and a ranking that has fallen to 137th in the world, Kudla knew he would be up against it going into the first round. More so because his credentials on clay aren’t as good as those on the faster courts around the world.
And yet, it was Kudla’s experience that shone out as he edged past the 2/5 favourite Aleksandar Vukic in the first round.
Kudla needed nearly two hours and needed to shrug off 12 aces and three breaks of serves against him to seal the victory. It was his first win following four successive defeats and just his sixth career win on clay – and this is a 13-year-long career we are talking about.
What would be interesting to see if Kudla can now use the same experience to go past Wolf, who himself isn’t the most proficient player on clay.
Wolf v Kudla Prediction and Tip
This could be a lot closer than what Wolf’s win odds of 4/9 represent. We expect this match could go to a third set.
Tips:
- Low Risk Tip: Kudla to win a set: 8/13 (Click Here to Bet with bet365)
- Moderate Risk Tip: Over 22.5 games in the match: 5/6 (Click Here to Bet with 888Sport)
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The 2023 ATP Houston Open will be played from April 3 to 9. You can get all the tennis betting news with our tennis betting blog here. Also get rest of the tennis match previews here.
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