Three Serbians headline play on day 2 of the ATP Belgrade clay court tournament, with Dusan Lajovic, Miomir Kecmanovic and Hamad Medjedovic seeking to get past the first round. We also have predictions for matches featuring Lucas Pouille and Federico Delbonis.
Mats Moraing vs Egor Gerasimov
Moraing has a 1-0 h2h lead but the match was four years ago, he makes the main draw as a lucky loser (lost to Andrej Martin), and this is his first main draw ATP Tour match of 2021. The journeyman rarely gets opportunities at this level and will be hoping to make the best of things. Gerasimov failed as a qualifier in both Rome and Madrid, and hasn’t won a match since Barcelona. It’s been a difficult clay court season with just a couple of wins on the surface, however he should be good enough to defeat a player of Moraing’s caliber at this point in his career. Gerasimov in 3
Pablo Cuevas vs Miomir Kecmanovic
Cuevas comes off the semifinals in Geneva, his best tournament of 2021 by far. He made it as a qualifier as well, so his form is great, but fatigue could play a factor in his level this week. Kecmanovic was a semifinalist in Buenos Aires, and reached quarterfinals of the previous Belgrade tournament on the clay, only losing to his countryman and world #1 Novak Djokovic. Cuevas is a great clay court player and would normally be favored, but I have a feeling he will be fatigued and Kecmanovic can snap a three match losing streak and make another run at home. Kecmanovic in 3
Christopher O’Connell vs Andrej Martin
Martin leads the h2h 1-0, both players came through qualifying, O’Connell with a limited resume has struggled at the ATP level so far and isn’t the most comfortable on clay. Martin has more experience and is much better on the surface. Although he tends to struggle with more ATP ready level players, he should be able to out wizard O’Connell on this surface and show he’s the superior dirtballer. Martin in 2
Ricardas Berankis vs Dusan Lajovic
Lajovic is trucking along at ATP level, at 6-14 it’s not been a great season but he does lead the h2h 2-1 against his veteran opponent. Berankis qualified in Munich and is 6-7 on the season, a couple of more wins in main draw matches would help him reach his best win total since 2019 already. Berankis is showing signs of threat, but Lajovic is at home and that should be enough. Lajovic in 3
Alex Molcan vs Hamad Medjedovic
The rising junior Medjedovic nearly qualified for the last Belgrade tournament and this time gets a wild card. This is a step up from his usual ITF level tennis so far early in his career. Molcan was good in qualifying though and has been credible on the challenger tour. I like his (relative) experience here to win the day. Molcan in 2
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