Day 2 of the ATP BMW Open in Munich provided a few big upsets, with seeds Dusan Lajovic and Sebastian Korda both going home in straight sets. Day 3 features the remaining seeds yet to begin their campaigns in former two time champion Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud.
ATP Munich Day 3 Predictions
Guido Pella vs John Millman
Head-to-head: 1-1
An even head to head with one match on hard and one match on grass, with their first match on clay coming here. The Argentine won his first match in five on Monday via a retirement whilst the Australian beat his fellow countryman Alexei Popyrin 7-5 in the third. On this surface there’s no down Pella is the favourite but given his recent form I’m expecting Millman to have a better chance than most people give him.
Prediction: Millman in 3
Pablo Cuevas vs Casper Ruud
Head-to-head: Ruud 1-0
Two players who have their best results on the red dirt come to battle here in Munich. The older of the two men made a winning return to the ATP Tour after over two months out with a three set win against Sandgren in the opening round but this is going to be a whole different ball game. Casper Ruud has made the semifinals of the last two Masters events on clay and is one of the favorites to win this week and it’s hard to go against that here.
Prediction: Ruud in 2
Ilya Ivashka vs Mackenzie McDonald
Head-to-head: 0-0
I’m not sure many expected a second round match between two qualifiers ranked outside the top 100, but that’s exactly what we have here. Both men had great opening round wins in beating Emil Ruusuvuori for Ivashka and Dusan Lajovic for McDonald. There’s no doubt Ivashka is in great form; not only this week but last week he qualified for Barcelona only to barely lose to eventual champion Rafael Nadal in the next round. In this form I expect his big game to be too much for the American to handle.
Prediction: Ivashka in 2
Ricardas Berankis vs Alexander Zverev
Head-to-head: Zverev 1-0
The main man, two-time champion, home favorite, and World #6 finally begins his campaign. It’s weird to say but 2021 hasn’t gone the way the German would have wanted, despite a title win in Acapulco and quarterfinal showing at the Australian Open. Ultimately, the lucky loser doesn’t have many weapons and the result here all depends on the 24-year-old. He might not be in sparkling form if his performances in Monte-Carlo were anything to go by. Even that should be enough for an easy routine win here, though. Their last match ended 6-1 6-1 6-2, and this could end up being something similar.
Prediction: Zverev in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
