First-round action continues at the ATP Stockholm Open on day two in the Swedish capital. Heavyweights like Stefanos Tsitsipas and Cameron Norrie will be tough to overcome, but will not enter the fray until Wednesday at the earliest. As always, we here at LWOT are offering our predictions for every match on the slate, including Leo Borg vs Tommy Paul. But who will advance to the last 16?
ATP Stockholm Day 2 Predictions
Alex de Minaur vs Benjamin Bonzi
Head-to-head: de Minaur 1-0 Bonzi
These two just played in Davis Cup, with the match going the way of Alex de Minaur. The Australian is an excellent hard courter, with five titles (one this year) and a 63% win percentage to his name. Benjamin Bonzi’s win percentage is almost 25 points lower, and he has struggled recently, only beating the also-struggling Ugo Humbert (twice) in the last two months since his quarterfinal showing in Winston-Salem. De Minaur could win the whole tournament in Stockholm, and he should move on comfortably to the second round at Bonzi’s expense.
Prediction: de Minaur in 2
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Emil Ruusuvuori vs Joao Sousa
Head-to-head: Ruusuvuori 2-1 Sousa
Both players are playing at roughly the level you would expect them to be playing at given their rankings (52 and 67 respectively), though Joao Sousa is perhaps slightly flattered by his ranking at the moment after a run of poor form. Emil Ruusuvuori has certainly been the more consistent of the two of them over the last few months, but Sousa owns the head-to-head matchup this year, which was en route to a hard court title for the Portuguese in Pune. Overall, Ruusuvuori is playing a lot better this year, both in the season as a whole and on hard courts, except the title run for Sousa. Ruusuvuori has beaten Sousa twice in qualifying events (once on grass, and once a quick third-game retirement on hard), and the same result seems likely here, but Sousa can’t be counted out.
Prediction: Ruusuvuori in 3
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Mikael Ymer vs Quentin Halys
Head-to-head: first meeting
Mikael Ymer’s trip to the semifinals in Florence sounds more impressive than it actually was, given that the draw was fairly easy. But Ymer does have the quality to make runs like that, as demonstrated in wins over Diego Schwartzman and Jannik Sinner in Davis Cup, and a more impressive run to the semis in Washington over the summer. Quentin Halys, on the other hand, has a deceptively high ranking at world #66 (which puts him 13 places higher than Ymer) on the strength of seven finals appearances on the Challenger tour this year, which includes three titles. But he has been very poor at the ATP level, going 3-8 on the year (one win on hard), and being a miserable 6-20 in his career on hard courts. Ymer is a legitimate hard courter, with a 17-12 record on the surface this year, and he should take this handily.
Prediction: Ymer in 2
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