The level of tennis in Buenos Aires has been outstanding and the action continues on Day 3 in the Argentine capital! Who will win and who will fall short? I give my best predictions below!
ATP Buenos Aires Day 3 Predictions
Miomir Kecmanovic vs Thiago Monteiro
Head to Head: 1-0 Kecmanovic
Miomir Kecmanovic looked tired and confused last week in his three-set loss to Juan Manuel Cerundolo. The Argentinian’s game wore him down physically and flustered him mentally, as Cerundolo used his consistency and variety to force Kecmanovic to overhit. Thiago Monteiro is trying to follow up his quarterfinal run in Cordoba with another quarterfinal here. Monteiro’s lefty game and huge forehand are working well over the past couple of weeks.
Kecmanovic leads the head to head 1-0, but that match occurred on a hard court, where Monteiro is much weaker than he is on clay, so it’s irrelevant here. Kecmanovic’s backhand will really be put to the test in cross-court exchanges with the Monteiro lefty forehand. Kecmanovic only won 44% of his second serve points against Cerundolo and will really need to focus on having as high of a first serve percentage as possible, to avoid Monteiro dictating play with his forehand. However, Monteiro is playing very solid clay-court tennis and given how Kecmanovic has lost five matches in a row against lefties, I like Monteiro to win here.
Prediction: Monteiro in 3
Dominik Koepfer vs Albert Ramos
Head to Head: never played
Dominik Koepfer picked up his first win of the Golden Swing when he survived a spirited effort from Thiago Tirante in the first round. Koepfer held firm during the barrage of Tirante forehands and was able to control the center of the court just enough to exploit the Tirante backhand and get an important victory. Koepfer won 79% of his first serve points, which was a big improvement over his loss to Federico Coria in Buenos Aires, where he only won 60% of his first serve points and had a lower first-serve percentage.
Albert Ramos came back from a set and a break down to beat Holger Rune in his first round match. Ramos looked tired and took a medical timeout, but his steadiness from the baseline was enough for him to squeak out a win over the inexperienced Rune.
These two have never played before. Koepfer played a good match to beat Tirante and was finding good depth with his groundstrokes, while Ramos didn’t look great against Rune. Consistency from the baseline will not be enough to beat Koepfer and Koepfer will be able to extend rallies himself and really go after Ramos’ legs in this one. Expect Koepfer to take out a fading Ramos and advance in Buenos Aires.
Prediction: Koepfer in 2
Federico Delbonis vs Laslo Djere
Head to Head: 1-0 Delbonis
Federico Delbonis did well to beat the Cordoba champion Juan Manuel Cerundolo in straight sets 6-4, 7-6(2). Delbonis was able to handle Cerundolo’s tricky lefty game. Laslo Djere had a strong start to his Golden Swing campaign. Djere came back from a set down to beat Marco Cecchinato in the first round of Buenos Aires. In that match, Djere actually won a higher percentage of points on his second serve compared to his first. He won 68% of his second serves versus 66% of his first serves. The fact that he was winning so many of his second serve points is very encouraging.
Delbonis leads the head to head 1-0, having beaten Djere in straight sets in a 2015 clay court Challenger. Delbonis has a big lefty serve and forehand, but struggles at times with unforced errors .Djere hits with really good depth and knows the right moments to step up in the court and get aggressive. I trust his baseline game more than an erratic Delbonis. Djere moves on.
Prediction: Djere in 3
Cristian Garin vs Sumit Nagal
Head to Head: 1-0 Garin
Cristian Garin is playing his first clay court match of the season. Garin is coming back from an injury, so how he’ll look in this one is a mystery. Sumit Nagal worked hard to qualify for this tournament and then played a great match to easily beat Joao Sousa 6-2, 6-0. Nagal’s return was excellent in that match, breaking Sousa’s serve six times and winning 70% of points on return.
Garin leads the head to head 1-0, having won in a clay-court Challenger match in 2018. This one is hard to call, as we don’t know how rusty/healthy Garin will be in his return from injury. But, when he’s at his best, he’s a really good clay courter and can control the baseline well. Nagal is very consistent and gets good depth on his shots, but he doesn’t have much to hurt Garin with. So, while he might be able to snag a set because of some rust from Garin which leads to unforced errors from the Chilean, I think Garin will have enough stretches of high-level play to win this match.
Prediction: Garin in 3
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