Acapulco Open: Ruud vs Daniel Tennis Prediction & Pick

TennisSection previews the 2023 Acapulco Open as Casper Ruud takes on Taro Daniel in the Round of 16 on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.

Will Casper Ruud get the win? Will Taro Daniel pull off the upset? This will be an interesting one, where we have the 2nd seed taking on an in-form qualifier who scored a major upset on day one. Who will triumph and move through to the quarterfinals at the 2023 Acapulco Open?

Casper Ruud won ugly in his first-round match, needing a deciding set tiebreaker to come through. As he takes on Taro Daniel, he’ll know he needs to play better or he can get into a similar situation. Ruud should really feel good on a court like Acapulco, and I absolutely expect him to get better and improve as he looks to move through to the quarterfinals of the 2023 Acapulco Open.

Taro Daniel took out J.J. Wolf, a great win for Daniel, although unfortunately for him it only gets tougher from here as he must take on World No. 4 Casper Ruud. Despite Ruud not looking his best in the last months, he’s still a top player and Daniel is not at a level where he can consistently challenge a guy like this. He’ll need to shorten up the points and not allow Ruud to start grinding him down if he wants a shot here at the 2023 Acapulco Open.

Casper Ruud and Taro Daniel have never met before, with this being their first career meeting. Although I could see an upset happening here, players often start slow and improve over time, the fact is that Ruud knows how to win these kinds of matches, so I do expect him to come through this one, even if it’ll be a tough match as the Norwegian looks ahead to the final eight at the 2023 Acapulco Open.