Second seed Novak Djokovic and the unseeded Bernabe Zapata Miralles will meet for the first time on Wednesday at the US Open. The two will battle in the second round with the winner playing either 32nd seed Laslo Djere or the qualifier Hugo Gaston next. Bernabe Zapata Miralles has struggled on hard court this season. Before arriving here, he had yet to record a victory on the surface. The Spaniard put this all behind him to defeat the wildcard Ethan Quinn in straight sets in the first round. This was his seventh outing on hard court. He will now seek to achieve his best-ever result here by causing an upset. Miralles is playing in the main draw at Flushing Meadows for the third successive season and has never advanced past this round. He has compiled a 21-22 record in 2023. His first-round win here is the only victory he has managed outside of clay courts. He is up one place to 75th in the live ranking.
Novak Djokovic defeated Alexandre Muller in dominating fashion in the first round. He won in straight sets and dropped just five games in an hour and 35 minutes. By doing so, the three-time US Open champion is guaranteed to ascend back to world number one. Djokovic is returning to Flushing Meadows after missing the tournament last season. The last time he was here, he lost in the final to Daniil Medvedev. Djokovic has again dominated this season and has won two Grand Slams while finishing as runner-up in another. The world number two has lost only once in 22 outings on hard court and five times overall in 44 matches this season. He won the Cincinnati Masters right before arriving for his 17th appearance here and is therefore on a six-match winning streak.
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Our prediction for Bernabe Zapata Miralles v Novak Djokovic is for Djokovic to win in straight sets. Miralles won in the first round to register his first hard court win this year. He will fancy his chances, however, Djokovic has annihilated his opponents again this season. We expect Djokovic to again breeze through this round as he did in the opener.