The ATP Sydney Tennis Classic rolls on and the quality of the matches continues to climb. On Day 3, there are many high-ranked players facing off against one another. We have predictions for all of them, two articles covering four matches apiece–including Andy Murray’s continued comeback against Nikoloz Basilashvili and top-seed Aslan Karatsev’s match against Miomir Kecmanovic. The second article looks at Dan Evans vs Pedro Martinez, among other matches.
ATP Sydney Tennis Classic Day 3 Predictions
Maxime Cressy vs Dusan Lajovic
H2H: Cressy 0-0 Lajovic
A very good win for Dusan Lajovic against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the first-round. He’s hitting the ball better than I thought he would be after cramping at the ATP Cup and may finally be piecing together his game after a patchy 2021.
Maxime Cressy delivered against Adrian Mannarino, however. The thing that’s impressed me the most the past week or so is how often he can find his serve. He hits at around 190km/h on both serves, slow enough to land it over and over but fast enough to make the approach incredibly strong. He has been rhythmic in his first serve percentage, almost always hitting around 70% in. Given how many points he wins behind it, he is so tough to beat right now. Lajovic impressed me but Cressy is hitting his stride.
Prediction: Cressy in 2
Sebastian Baez vs Lorenzo Sonego
H2H: Baez 0-0 Sonego
Sebastian Baez proved me wrong in the first round, defeating Christopher O’Connell in a third-set tiebreak. He continues to impress on hard-courts and certainly won’t go down without a fight to Lorenzo Sonego.
Sonego has all the makings of a very powerful game but sometimes struggled to put it together last year. To his credit, however, he was undeterred by the conditions he played in, finding success (and sometimes a lack of) on hard, grass and clay courts alike. Like many of his countrymen, it really depends what he turns up with on the day. My gut feeling is that Baez will find a way to unpick Sonego’s heavy serve and forehand combo.
Prediction: Baez in 3
Aslan Karatsev vs Miomir Kecmanovic
H2H: Karatsev 1-0 Kecmanovic
Miomir Kecmanovic made me eat my words in his first-round match against Stefano Travaglia. The Serb didn’t break a sweat for the loss of five games against the Italian. It was a very solid performance that won’t go unconsidered in this prediction…
He’s now up against last year’s breakout star in Aslan Karatsev. Now the top-seed at the Sydney Tennis Classic, Karatsev is obviously capable of playing outstandingly well in these conditions–it’s just a question of whether he can hit the ground running having contracted COVID-19 recently. Given how other players have fared recovering from the virus and how Kecmanovic played in his last match, I’m going to back the upset here.
Prediction: Kecmanovic in 2
Andy Murray vs Nikoloz Basilashvili
H2H: Murray 1-0 Basilashvili
Nikoloz Basilashvili struggled greatly at the ATP Cup. The conditions stifled his breathing, forcing him to pull out of his match against Stefanos Tsitsipas and gifting Diego Schwartzman an easy win. I am doubtful he will have fully recovered from this setback so expect him to be a little jaded.
Andy Murray played surprisingly well for using a new racket against Viktor Durasovic. The bigger racket face finally seems to be clicking on-court with the Scot who was serving like a dream against the Norwegian. Assuming Bagnis was a blip on the radar and Durasovic is the new benchmark, Murray should be in full-flow against an ailing Basilashvili.
Prediction: Murray in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
