The second round at the 2021 ATP Sofia Open gets underway on Wednesday. A number of star players are set to take to the court in Sofia, as well as some less heralded names, and as always we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the schedule, including Pablo Andujar vs Ilya Ivashka. But who will come out on top?
ATP Sofia Day 3 Predictions
Illya Marchenko vs Andreas Seppi
Head-to-head: Marchenko 2-1 Seppi
Illya Marchenko has predominantly played on the ATP Challenger Tour this season and his best result came in the first Biella Challenger event, where he won the title defeating Andy Murray in the final. Marchenko has played in four ATP Tour events this season, winning just one tour-level match this season which came in Los Cabos over Peter Gojowczyk. But Marchenko possesses a lot of firepower, especially on the serve and forehand and is a far better player than his current ATP ranking of 151 would suggest, having reached the fourth round of the US Open back in 2016.
Andreas Seppi has played a mixture of ATP Challenger and main Tour events this season. Like his opponents, the Italian won the third Biella Challenger event and on the ATP Tour he made a run to the quarterfinals of Eastbourne. Last month at the US Open, Seppi reached the third round, recording impressive wins over Marton Fucsovics and Hubert Hurkacz. Seppi possesses a powerful first serve and has good firepower on the forehand side. Expect this to be a tight match with both players relatively well-matched, however, Seppi is in the better form of the two and should get the win in three sets.
Prediction: Seppi in 3
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Alexander Bublik vs Dimitar Kuzmanov
Head-to-head: first meeting
Alexander Bublik is one of the most orthodox players on the ATP Tour. The Kazakh can be up and down at times, with him producing a good run one week and losing the first match the next. Bublik has reached the final of the Singapore Open earlier in the season and has a lot of firepower and variety in his game. The Kazakh has a huge first serve and has a heavy weight of shot, yet he also often throws in underarm serves to try and surprised his opponents.
Dimitar Kuzmanov is currently ranked 226th in the world, but the Bulgarian, who received a wildcard into the main draw this week, caused one of the upsets of the year in defeating Lorenzo Musetti, bouncing back impressively after losing the first set in a tiebreak. The Bulgarian has nothing to lose, and Bublik is an unpredictable and not particularly consistent opponent. But the Kazakh should have too much firepower for Kuzmanov. Expect Bublik to get the win in straight sets.
Prediction: Bublik in 2
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Miomir Kecmanovic vs Gianluca Mager
Head-to-head: Kecmanovic 1-0 Marchenko
Gianluca Mager recorded an impressive 6-3 6-2 win over the sixth seed Adrian Mannarino in the opening round. The Italian has played a combination of Challenger and ATP Tour events this season and has played his best tennis on the clay, winning the Andalucia Challenger and reaching two ATP Tour 250 quarterfinals in Belgrade and Kitzbuhel. Mager also reached the quarterfinals of Delray Beach at the start of the season.
Miomir Kecmanovic did not play his best tennis in his opening round win over Adrian Andreev. The Serb has had a difficult season on the ATP Tour and has struggled to win back-to-back matches at tour-level. Kecmanovic is undoubtedly a talented player and surely sure it won’t be too long before he finds his best form again, but the Serbian does not look like he is there yet. This should still be a close three-set match, but Mager has been in the better form and he will undoubtedly be brimming of confidence after his excellent first-round win over Mannarino.
Prediction: Mager in 3
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