Day two at the Vienna Open should see no shortage of entertaining action for the fans in the Austrian capital and we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for all six matches on the slate. But who will book their place in the second round?
ATP Vienna Open Day 2 Predictions
Feliciano Lopez vs Gilles Simon
Head-to-head: Lopez 6-2 Simon
This pair have a long history with their first meeting having come back in 2008 and their most recent being their clash in the Queen’s Club Championships final in June. Feliciano Lopez, who emerged victorious that day to claim his second title in West Kensington, has had the better of that rivalry, winning six of their eight matches.
But, somewhat surprisingly, only two of their meetings have come on a hard court and on both of those occasions, Gilles Simon has been a winner in straight-sets. And whilst both men are surely now no longer at the peak of their powers, Simon continues to play a full schedule and should be more match tough as a result. Expect his grinding defence to wear the more offensively minded Spaniard down once again on a hard court.
Prediction: Simon in 2
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Nikoloz Basilashvili vs Fernando Verdasco
Head-to-head: Basilashvili 1-0 Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco has been struggling badly over the past few months. Although he has picked up some good wins, notably rallying from two-sets down to oust the then-British #1 Kyle Edmund in the second round at Wimbledon, he has lost his last three matches. Indeed, the Spaniard has not reached a tour-level quarterfinal since making the last eight on the clay in Kitzbuhel, where he enjoyed a first-round bye as the third seed.
Nikoloz Basilashvili, meanwhile, had a solid but ultimately short Asian swing. In Beijing, where he was defending champion, he lost to eventual finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round in three sets. He then made the third round at the Shanghai Masters, but was defeated there by the resurgent Dominic Thiem in straight sets. Both men will look to dictate proceedings from the baseline, but it is Basilashvili and decidedly not Verdasco who has been able to do that in recent weeks.
Prediction: Basilashvili in 2
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Dominic Thiem vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Head-to-head: Tsonga 2-0 Thiem
Thiem is coming into his home event with real momentum after a successful spell during the Asian swing. Although his summer in North America was ultimately rather a write-off as he struggled with illness and collected just a handful of wins, he bounced back in impressive fashion by winning the China Open, his second hard-court title of the year after his triumph in Indian Wells. He backed that up with a good run to the quarterfinals in Shanghai, where he lost narrowly to Matteo Berrettini. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, on the other hand, has fallen far from the lofty heights he once occupied.
The Frenchman was never a paragon of consistency, but his abundant talent and love of the big stage took him as high as fifth in the world rankings. Now, however, despite some flashes of the old magic, which recently saw him win the Moselle Open, the Frenchman is no longer a real force in the men’s game. That said, on an indoor hard-court, he can still do damage. But so too can Thiem, and with the Austrian crowd behind him, he should be able to get the better of Tsonga, particularly if he can find his backhand.
Prediction: Thiem in 3
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