Day two at the ATP Lyon Open should provide the fans with plenty of exciting matches, including what might be the swansong of a long-time French fan favourite. As always, we here at LWOT are offering our predictions for every match on the schedule, including Jack Draper vs Miomir Kecmanovic. But who will advance?
ATP Lyon Day 2 Predictions
Max Purcell vs Pablo Llamas Ruiz
Head-to-head: first meeting
Just looking at the rankings, one might think this was set to be an easy win for Max Purcell, but he has been injured of late and also doesn’t play a great deal of his tennis on the clay. Pablo Llamas Ruiz, in contrast, plays almost exclusively on the terre battue. The young Spaniard is definitely much better than his ranking suggests, he played some great tennis in qualifying and this looks like a great opportunity for him to record his first ever ATP main draw win.
Prediction: Llamas Ruiz in 3
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Arthur Rinderknech vs Brandon Nakashima
Head-to-head: Rinderknech 1-0 Nakashima
Both players are more comfortable on hard court, but they can both play on clay as well. It should be a tight match, but Arthur Rinderknech has played at the ATP Lyon Open throughout his career. He demonstrated why he keeps coming back to Lyon by scoring an impressive first-round win over South Africa’s Lloyd Harris, dropping only six games. He’s also playing at home and will surely have the French crowd right behind him. That should be enough to give him the slighest of edges over Brandon Nakashima.
Prediction: Rinderknech in 3
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Gael Monfils vs Pedro Cachin
Head-to-head: first meeting
Gael Monfils’ comeback hasn’t been successful so far. The Frenchman, who has looked a shadow of the man once ranked as high as sixth in the world, hsa only won one match this year and that was via his opponent’s retirement. Unfortunately, he’s mostly been losing in routinely and looking at least half-a-step slow. Monfils, despite accusations that he did not make the most of his talent, has rightly earned a reputation as one of the game’s great entertainers, so most will be rooting for him to come back to a high level, but that will almost certainly be more in hope than expectation. Pedro Cachin, typically a solid performer on the clay, is certainly a clear favorite in this one.
Prediction: Cachin in 2
Main photo credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
