The second day of the ATP singles in Hamburg is filled with exciting matchups. Last week’s semifinalist at the Bastad Open Francisco Cerundolo is one of the players in action but there are also many other matches to enjoy. We have predictions for the other men’s matches on Day 2 in two separate articles–one features Alexander Zverev vs Alex Molcan, and the other features Lorenzo Musetti vs Elias Ymer. Comment below who you think will progress to the next round.
ATP Hamburg Day 2 Predictions
Jan Choinski vs Zhizhen Zhang
Head-to-head: First meeting
Choinski is seeking his second ATP win after his victory at Wimbledon over Dusan Lajovic. He will have some confidence of doing it after beating the #1 seed in qualifying Daniel Galan. It is hard to know what to expect from Zhang. The Chinese player has a quarterfinal at the Madrid Open and a run to the third round at the French Open to his name this season, but has also suffered many poor losses to players ranked below him. I fear he may suffer another one to the #151 in the world. Choinski at six feet and five inches relies heavily on his serve and second shot, and Zhang has often lost matches of those types due to losing concentration against opponents who give no rhythm. Upset for Choinski predicted.
Prediction: Choinski in 3
Maximilian Marteter vs Rudolf Molleker
Head-to-head: Marterer 2-0 Molleker
This is a golden opportunity for each player. Both #144 ranked Marterer and #251 ranked Molleker were given wild cards into the event, and each man will view this as a very winnable opening round match. These two met only a few days ago in the semifinal of a Challenger event in the Netherlands, which Marterer won in straight sets before going on to win the title. It is hard therefore not to give the higher ranked German the edge. The run to the semifinals will have given the lowly ranked Molleker some confidence, but Marterer beating Molleker so recently may mean there is a mental as well as a technical edge in his favor.
Prediction: Marterer in 2
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Francisco Cerundolo vs Yannick Hanfmann
Head-to-head: Cerundolo 2-0 Hanfmann
Hopefully Cerundolo has shaken off the disappointment of his very tight semifinal loss to Andrey Rublev last week in Bastad. Overall the Argentine played a lot of very good tennis throughout the tournament and will be in good shape for the rest of the season if he continues in that vein. The positive news for Cerundolo is that he has already beaten Hanfmann twice on clay this season in Buenos Aires and at Roland Garros, although the match in Buenos Aires was a very close match that finished 7-5 in the third. Hanfmann has very powerful groundstrokes off both sides and is dangerous when playing near his best. It would not surprise me if the German won a set as he did in Buenos Aires but I think the fifth seed will have a little too much again.
Prediction: Cerundolo in 3
Main Photo Credit: David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports
