With the home star Grigor Dimitrov out of the ATP Sofia tournament, it will be interesting to watch who the crowd gets behind as we will see the rest of the second round played out. As always, we here at LWOT will preview and predict every match. Who do you think will win? We also have predictions for matches featuring Jannik Sinner.
ATP Sofia Day 4 Predictions
Jan-Lennard Struff vs Ugo Humbert
Head-to-head: first meeting
A match-up between two former Top 30 players currently outside of the Top 100 who have struggled on the main tour this season while finding some form on the Challenger Tour. Struff, who suffered an eight-match losing streak between January and March has had a couple of strong moments this year though, winning a Challenger 125 title in Braunschweig and coming close to taking out Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon. The German is looking to make a push towards a Top 100 return on indoor hard and actually has a six-match win streak right now, earning three wins at Davis Cup before coming to Sofia. This week, Struff qualified with wins over Aziz Dougaz and Mirza Basic before coming back from a set down against Dusan Lajovic. Humbert is also targetting this time of the year to try and rack up points, getting off to a successful start at the Rennes Challenger, where the 24-year-old defeated Dominic Thiem 6-3 6-0. This week, Humbert also began in qualifying with wins over Ernests Gulbis and Filip Cristian Jianu before taking out Dimitar Kuzmanov. Both are in decent form coming into this match but I feel that Humbert has shown a higher ceiling recently and should edge this match for me.
Prediction: Humbert in 2
Oscar Otte vs Kamil Majchrzak
Head-to-head: first meeting
Despite a losing 22-23 record on the season, Otte has managed to keep himself high enough in the rankings to retain his status as a main tour player after his US Open points came off. The German snapped a six-match losing streak here, earning his first win since Wimbledon against Dragos Nicolae Madaras. Majchrzak is looking to defend his quarterfinal here from last season after dropping out of the Top 100 this year with a losing record on the season. It would be Majchrzak’s first quarterfinal since May in Geneva and just the third of the season. The Pole defeated Ricardas Berankis in straight sets in his Sofia opener. It’s a close call but I will lean towards Majchrzak here though it could go either way with both players struggling for form at the moment.
Prediction: Majchrzak in 3
Holger Rune vs Lorenzo Sonego
Head-to-head: Rune 1-0 Sonego
Rune had an impressive clay season with his first ATP title in Munich and first slam quarterfinal at the French Open. Since then, the Dane has struggled to make impact and is looking for his first back-to-back wins since May. Rune took out Tim Van Rijthoven in the first round in two tiebreaks. Sonego is coming in with brilliant form, winning his third ATP title last week in Metz, adding a third surface to his trophy cabinet after winning Antalya 2019 on grass and Cagliari 2021 on clay. The Italian got some impressive wins last week, taking out Sebastian Korda, Hubert Hurkacz, and Alexander Bublik in the last three rounds to win the title. He confirmed his form in Sofia with a straightforward win over Bernabe Zapata Miralles. Rune beat Sonego last year on indoor hard in Metz but on current form I believe this match will go the way of the Italian.
Prediction: Sonego in 2
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