After an exciting opening day of main draw action, Day 2 of the ATP Maharashtra Open in Pune is going to bring us the rest of the first-round matches. As always, we here at LWOT will preview and predict every match It’s going to be packed with action, so we have a second prediction article with the other four clashes, including Kamil Majchrzak vs Jay Clarke. Who do you think will advance?
ATP Pune Day 2 Predictions
Ramkumar Ramanathan vs Stefano Travaglia
H2H: first meeting
Ramanathan has had a winless Australian summer with losses to Gian Marco Moroni and Holger Rune but was finding form at the end of last season as he won a Challenger in Manama. He faces eighth seed Stefano Travaglia, who is also having a difficult time starting his 2022. The Italian has already lost four times and has had one win over No. 745, Matthew Christopher Romios. Despite his odd season last year, I still view Travaglia as a step above Ramanathan at his point, so I believe he will advance.
Prediction: Travaglia in 2
Hugo Grenier vs Aleksandar Vukic
H2H: first meeting
A very exciting match-up between two strong Challenger-level hard-court players, though a question mark hangs over it, Grenier’s fitness. The Frenchman was forced to retire in the quarterfinals of Bendigo in week one and certainly did not look fit in Australian Open qualifying. Meanwhile, Vukic reached the quarterfinals at a 250 in Adelaide and won a match at the Australian Open, so his form coming in is certainly superior. The Australian should be the favorite here, especially due to the uncertainties around Grenier.
Prediction: Vukic in 2
Dennis Novak vs Bernabe Zapata Miralles
H2H: Zapata Miralles 1-0 Novak
Both are very strong Challenger players on particular services, with Novak being a danger especially on indoor hard and Zapata Miralles a solid clay courter. The Austrian skipped Australia and started his year with a strong run to the semifinals in Quimper while the Spaniard didn’t win a set in his losses to Andreas Seppi and Dmitry Popko. Despite their last meeting, Novak is definitely the favorite for me.
Prediction: Novak in 2
Emil Ruusuvuori vs Egor Gerasimov
H2H: Gerasimov 1-0 Ruusuvuori
An exciting match-up between two main tour players, one of the few in the first round here. Ruusuvuori was pretty strong in Australia, reaching a semifinal at a warm-up 250 in Melbourne before taking two sets off Felix Auger-Aliassime. Gerasimov was also solid to start the season, qualifying to reach the quarterfinals in Adelaide. The Belarusian won their previous dramatic meeting in Marseille 2020 in a third-set tiebreak, so we might see another marathon match here, though I expect Ruusuvuori to come out the winner this time.
Prediction: Ruusuvuori in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
