The ATP Lyon 250 provides a nice transition between Rome and Roland Garros, and features some lower level players who provide the stage for possible fun upsets. We call a couple of these below at we look at Day 2 of ATP action in Lyon.
ATP Lyon Day 2 Predictions
Ugo Humbert vs Gregoire Barrere
Head-to-head: first meeting
This match is trickier than the 150-place differential between their rankings would suggest. Humbert is one of the top 50 players playing the worst this year, and he is playing on his least favorite surface. There might be plenty of low-level players that I would pick over Humbert here, but Barrere cannot even be considered a career Challenger player; he has far more experience in Futures tournaments than even on the Challenger Tour. He’s not a bad clay player at those levels, but is 1-7 on the surface in ATP competition. The level of play here should be below main draw level (although it may get a hometown boost from both being French players), and Barrere is too inexperienced and unaccomplished to pick against even a struggling top 50 player. But Humbert doesn’t give me any confidence at the moment.
Prediction: Humbert in 3
Pedro Martinez vs Yosuke Watanuki
Head-to-head: first meeting
Martinez is a decent clay court player, and Watanuki is as inexperienced of a player on clay as I have ever seen. The latter has no experience on the surface at the ATP level, and only 18 matches in both Challenger and Futures combined. He is a hard court player, and should not be expected to keep up with a player who has an ATP clay title to his name this season. Watanuki likely has trouble hitting through the court at 139 lbs., and should also be flummoxed by the clay court strategy of a much more experienced player.
Prediction: Martinez in 2
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs Alex Molcan
Head-to-head: first meeting
Tsonga is nearing the end, of course, and cannot be considered a competitive player at this point. But perhaps Lyon will infuse some life into the Frenchman’s game. He is facing a tricky opponent in Molcan, who has played well this year and has been steadily rising in his career, although a little late in the game. Molcan is super-mobile and likes the clay, and should create a frustrating backstop against the Frenchman’s unstable power. Molcan will likely take full use of his lefty advantage on serve, and Tsonga’s lack of mobility, and win a lot of serve-plus-one points from the ad court. I’d expect a quality performance from the rising Slovak, amidst good crowd support for Tsonga.
Prediction: Molcan in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
