Day 2 of the 2021 ATP Sofia Open promises to be another intriguing day of indoor hard court tennis, with the likes of Lorenzo Musetti and 8th seed John Millman taking centre stage in the Bulgarian capital. Marcos Giron will be looking to continue to build on last weeks impressive quarterfinal run in Metz and he begins his campaign against a dangerous opponent in Juame Munar. Here are my predictions for the five opening round matches to be played on Tuesday.
ATP Sofia Open Day 2 Predictions
Marcos Giron vs Juame Munar
Head to Head: First Meeting
Marcos Giron has recorded some impressive results on the ATP Tour this season. The American reached the third round of Roland Garros, recording impressive wins over Grigor Dimitrov and Guido Pella. Since then, Giron reached the quarterfinals in Halle, Winston Salem and last week in Metz. Giron has established himself in the Top 100, with his ranking currently residing at #67. Despite not possessing a major weapon, the American is an impressive mover and is able to wear opponents down. Giron is comfortable exchanging in long baseline rallies and can be a difficult player to punch holes through.
Juame Munar is ranked only three spots behind Giron at #70 in the world. However, the Spaniard has really struggled to make consistent deep runs at ATP events this season. However, Munar has played a lot of ATP Challenger Tour events and has won four titles–in Lisbon, Marbella, and two events in Antalya. The highlight of Munar’s season so far was reaching the final of the Andalucia Open, where he lost to his fellow countryman Pablo Carreno Busta. It is fair to say that Munar is yet to find consistency outside of the clay court swing and that could prove to be a deciding factor in this match.
Despite neither man possessing massive firepower, this will be a war of attrition with many long baseline rallies. I think the American will get the win in straight sets due to him being in better form that Munar and because of the confidence he will have from last weeks quarterfinal run in Metz.
Prediction: Giron in 2
Lorenzo Musetti vs Dimitar Kuzmanov
Head to Head: First Meeting
Lorenzo Musetti has shown why he is one of the most exciting prospects of his generation this season, particularly during an impressive clay court swing. The Italian reached the quarterfinals in Sardinia, the semifinals in Lyon and most impressively he reached the four round of Roland Garros where he was two sets to love up against Novak Djokovic before succumbing in five sets. However, it is fair to say that since then the Italian has struggled to continue this form, however he has had difficult draws such as facing Hubert Hurkacz in the first round of Wimbledon and Reilly Opelka in the second round of the US Open. Nevertheless, Musetti remains a force to be reckoned with and the Italian will only get better.
Dimitar Kuzmanov has predominantly played on the ATP Challenger Tour this season, with his best result being a run to the final in Zadar. The Bulgarian has not played much at Tour level and was given a wildcard into the main-draw this week. Kuzmanov will not have the benefit of home crowed support due to their being no fans during the first few days of the tournament.
Kuzmanov can play freely and has nothing to lose. However, I think Musetti will have too much experience and firepower.
Prediction: Musetti in 2
Egor Gerasimov vs Vasek Pospisil
Head to Head: First Meeting
The highlight of Egor Gerasimov’s season came in Marseille, where he reached the semifinals, recording wins over Andy Murray, Aljaz Bedene and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina before falling to David Goffin. However, since then the Bulgarian has struggled with consistency and has not been able to replicate that form during the rest of the season. The Bulgarian is currently ranked outside the Top 100, residing at #112 in the world. However, Gerasimov is undoubtedly a better player than his current ranking suggests.
The same can be said for Vasek Pospisil. The highlight of the Canadian’s season was a quarterfinal run in Eastbourne, however like Gerasimov, Pospisil has struggled to win back-to-back matches at ATP Tour events. Considering that the Canadian was a Wimbledon quarter-finalist in 2015, it would be good to see the Canadian get back to his best form and begin to climb up the rankings again.
I think this will be a close three set match. However, I think the Canadian will get the win, with the indoor conditions helping his huge first serve.
Prediction: Pospisil in 3
Laslo Djere vs Pedro Martinez
Head to Head: 1-0 Djere
Laslo Djere has enjoyed a successful season on the ATP Tour. The Serb has consistently reached the latter stages of tournaments, reaching the quarterfinal stage of six ATP tournaments, as well as the final in Sardinia and the third round of Roland Garros. Djere has played his best tennis predominantly on the clay, but comes into Sofia in good form, having reached the quarterfinals in Nur-Sultan.
Pedro Martinez has also predominantly played on the clay this season and like Djere made an ATP 250 final on the surface in Kitzbuhel. Martinez has also played on the ATP Challenger Tour and won in Seville. Despite not possessing a major weapon, Martinez is a great mover and is good at outlasting players from the back of the court.
I think this could be a close match. However, given the fact that Djere is more comfortable on hard courts and has achieved better results, I am giving the edge to the Serb.
Prediction: Djere in 2
John Millman vs Mikael Ymer
Head to Head: First Meeting
John Millman has not has the best season on the ATP Tour. The Australian has only reached the quarterfinal stage at two tournaments–in Munich and Washington. The Australian does not have the firepower to blast through opponents, so he relies on his movement and his consistency to make himself difficult to beat. Millman struggles to get free points on his serve so has to work extra hard to consistently hold serve.
Mikael Ymer has enjoyed the best season of his career. Before the US Open, he reached his first ATP Tour final in Winston Salem. This was after Ymer made back-to-back quarterfinals on the clay in Bastaad and Gstaad. And earlier in the season, the Swede made the third round of both the Australian Open and Roland Garros. However, Ymer has been susceptible to nerves in the big moments, such as in the Winston Salem final, so it will be interesting to see how he handles the pressure moments if the match gets tight.
I think Ymer will get the win because of the fact that he is in better form that the Australian and because he will have more confidence due to recording an impressive win over Jan-Lennard Struff in Metz.
Prediction: Ymer in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
