The second round gets underway on day three at the ATP Stockholm Open on what promises to be an entertaining day of tennis with six matches on the schedule. As always, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the schedule, including Cameron Norrie vs Aslan Karatsev. But who will come out on top?
ATP Stockholm Day 3 Predictions
J.J. Wolf vs Alex Molcan
Head-to-head: first meeting
J.J. Wolf is coming off of a runner-up showing in Florence (lost Felix Auger-Aliassime), and the question is whether that will give him confidence or whether just falling short will sap his drive with fatigue also potentially an issue. He is facing a struggling opponent in Alex Molcan, who has not had a good win since July and who isn’t at his best on hard courts. But the Slovakian is a smart player who can probably keep up with the energetic American’s power and make a game of this. But I see Wolf continuing his form and moving on to the second round.
Prediction: Wolf in 3
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Denis Shapovalov vs Antoine Bellier
Head-to-head: first meeting
Denis Shapovalov has dusted himself off a bit from his struggles earlier this season and has compiled a respectable 22-13 record on hard courts this year. Antoine Bellier, meanwhile, has just scored his first career tour-level win on a hard court, as he sits just inside the top 200. This is a power vs power matchup, and Shapovalov is the more experienced ATP power player by far, and also got the better of a very similar player last month in Marc-Andrea Huesler. Huesler is almost the mirror image of Bellier—a large, left-handed, hard-hitting Swiss—except better, as his run to the title in Sofia showed. Shapovalov should be hungry for wins after a season treading water and should handle this comfortably.
Prediction: Shapovalov in 2
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Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Maxime Cressy
Head-to-head: Tsitsipas 1-0 Cressy
Maxime Cressy makes his living on grass, and Tsitsipas on clay, and here they meet on hard court. Tsitsipas has continued his phenomenal season with a finals run at Astana, which included wins over Andrey Rublev and Hubert Hurkacz, and ended only at the hands of Novak Djokovic. That’s 53 wins on the year for the Greek, with a 28-12 record on hard court this year. Cressy has not beaten anyone close to Tsitsipas’ level on the surface this year, and is hovering around .500 overall and on hard this season. However, Cressy can be tricky opponent, and he is a much better player than when they last faced at the US Open in 2020. He may not have enough to get the win, but don’t be surprised if he wins a set
Prediction: Tsitsipas in 3
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