With six first-round matches on the schedule at the ATP Stockholm Open, it should be an entertaining second day in the Swedish capital. As always, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the slate, including Alex de Minaur vs Benjamin Bonzi. But who will secure their spot in the last 16?
ATP Stockholm Day 2 Predictions
Antoine Bellier vs Alexander Shevchenko
Head-to-head: first meeting
This is really a Challenger-level match with neither Antoine Bellier or Alexander Shevchenko even close to being tour-level regulars. Both are 0-1 lifetime on hard courts on the ATP tour, and neither has had much success or even much experience on hard courts at Challenger level. They have played about the same at the Futures-level, and there is very little to separate them. This could go either way, but Shevchenko should probably be accounted the favourite after an impressive qualifying campaign which included upsetting the top seed and now-world #96 Pavel Kotov.
Prediction: Shevchenko in 3
Embed from Getty Images
Grigor Dimitrov vs Jiri Lehecka
Head-to-head: Dimitrov 1-0
Grigor Dimitrov is a former champion here at the ATP Stockholm Open, but he does not look like he is in form to repeat. He’s struggled over the last few months after a good few stretch in the middle of the season, and has kept his workload low as injuries have mounted in this latter phase of his career. But this looks like a winnable match for the Bulgarian. Jiri Lehecka has very little experience on hard courts at the ATP level, and has not played very well this year in general. He is a rising star and has improved his ranking significantly over the last year, but he is only 9-16 at the ATP level this season. A slipping and injury-prone Dimitrov might be the ideal opponent for Lehecka, but he just hasn’t shown enough to confidently predict an upset here.
Prediction: Dimitrov in 3
Embed from Getty Images
Tommy Paul vs Leo Borg
Head-to-head: Paul 1-0
Tommy Paul perpetually flies under the radar. He shouldn’t. Sitting at #31 in the world, he has beaten the likes of Jannik Sinner, Marin Cilic, Denis Shapovalov, Alexander Zverev, and Carlos Alcaraz (plus a mid-match retirement from Matteo Berrettini). But the story of this match will probably be Leo Borg. Not because he is likely to win it: he is still searching for his first ATP and Challenger-level wins and is yet to break into the top 500, but he is certain to have the support of the crowd.
Strangely enough given the disparity in their rankings, these two have met before. Less surprisingly, that match was contested at this very tournament last year. It was Borg’s tour-level debut, with the Swede ranked a humbled 2146th in the world at the time. Paul won it comfortably 6-2 6-4, going on to lift the title, and although Borg has clearly improved notably in the 12 months since, Paul ought to take this one almost as handily as last time.
Prediction: Paul in 2
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
