There should be plenty of entertaining action on day two at the ATP Parma Open, with a number of star names set to take to the court in Emilia-Romagna. As ever, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the slate, including Gilles Simon vs Pedro Martinez. But who will reach the second round?
ATP Parma Day 2 Predictions
Aljaz Bedene vs Salvatore Caruso
Head-to-head: Bedene 1-0 Caruso
Aljaz Bedene arrives at the ATP Parma Open in good form. The Slovenian reached the quarterfinals in Cagliari and Lyon, as well as reaching the second round at the first ATP event in Belgrade and the main draw in Rome, albeit as a lucky loser. Salvatore Caruso, meanwhile, started his clay-court season with a run through the qualifying to the second round in Monte Carlo, but he has struggled since, suffering straight-sets defeats in the first round in Barcelona, Rome and Geneva.
He may well be short of confidence as a result. Both men are solid baseliners, who will likely look to use their forehands to dictate proceedings, but Bedene has been winning matches recently and Caruso has not. Bedene has also been the more consistent performer at tour-level, having won 132 ATP matches to Caruso’s 18. He also beat the Italian 6-1 6-0 in their only previous matches. This match may well be closer, but Bedene should have the edge once again.
Prediction: Bedene in 2
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Sam Querrey vs Yoshihito Nishioka
Head-to-head: Querrey 1-0 Nishioka
Yoshihito Nishioka is hardly a clay-court specialist, which has been demonstrated in the heavy defeats he has suffered in recent weeks, including a 1-6 2-6 loss to Casper Ruud in the second round in Madrid and a 0-6 2-6 defeat in the first round in Rome at the hands of Marton Fucsovics. However, he did bounce back by reaching the quarterfinals last week at the ATP Lyon Open, beating Ugo Humbert and Gael Monfils, both from a set down, before losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Sam Querrey has been out of action since losing in the first round at the ATP Miami Open. It has been a stop-start season for the American, who has won only two matches so far in 2020 and it seems unlikely that he will turn his year around on the clay. Of course any player who has been ranked as high as world #11 and picked up 374 tour-level wins should not be underestimated, but Querrey is not the force he once was and Nishioka has been playing the better tennis of late.
Prediction: Nishioka in 2
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Richard Gasquet vs Daniel Altmaier
Head-to-head: first meeting
This looks to have the makings of an entertaining and watchable match. Richard Gasquet has the edge in terms of experience with the Frenchman having won 553 ATP matches and 15 titles. In contrast, Daniel Altmaier has won just five ATP matches over the course of his career, three of which came at Roland Garros last year, and unsurprisingly won no titles. He has also struggled so far this season, losing both of his tour-level matches so far this year.
Last time out, the German lost back-to-back matches in Geneva in the final round of qualifying and the first round of the main draw as a lucky loser. However, he did play well to come through the qualifying at the ATP Parma Open, beating Pavel Kotov and Norbert Gombos to reach the main draw. This looks like another winnable match for the German. Gasquet will not be able to overpower him and may struggle to stay with him over the course of longer rallies.
Prediction: Altmaier in 3
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Andreas Seppi vs Sebastian Korda
Head-to-head: Korda 1-0 Seppi
Having reached the fourth round at the French Open last season, Sebastian Korda will surely be targeting another good run in the French capital. The American has been in solid enough form of late, reaching the quarterfinals in Miami, although he has not yet found his best tennis on the clay and lost in the first round in Belgrade and Munich, as well as in the first round of qualifying in Madrid. But he did reach the second round in Lyon last week.
Andreas Seppi, meanwhile, has played relatively little tennis so far this season. The Italian has lost both of the tour-level matches he has played this year, but he did win the third Biella Challenger. Nonetheless Korda, though relatively inexperienced, is a cut above most of the opponents Seppi has faced this year. The Italian is an experienced campaigner, but he has lost half a step and may well struggle to contend with Korda’s power off the ground.
Prediction: Korda in 3
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