Preparations for Wimbledon wrap up this week as 28 men descend upon Eastbourne, Great Britain, for the 2024 Rothesay International. Play gets started on Monday with four ATP matches, including No. 5 seed Francisco Cerundolo taking on American Marcos Giron. As always, we at LWOT have the preview and prediction for all matches around the grounds of ATP Eastbourne. But who will advance?
ATP Eastbourne Day 1 Predictions
Billy Harris vs Jacob Fearnley
Head-to-Head: first meeting
Two British wildcards, Billy Harris and Jacob Fearnley, square off with a spot in the ATP Eastbourne second round on the line. Both men are ranked outside the world’s top 150 and could use some valuable tour-level experience in their home country. Harris reached the Queen’s Club quarterfinals last week, picking up terrific wins over two top 70 players. Two weeks ago, Fearnley, the former TCU Horned Frog, advanced out of the Nottingham Challenger qualies to win the title. It was his first professional event since the end of the 2024 college tennis season. I’ll back the 22-year-old Fearnley and his massive serve + forehand combo.
Prediction: Fearnley in 3
Max Purcell vs Laslo Djere
Head-to-Head: first meeting
Max Purcell’s proclivity to move forward should lend itself to success on the grass. However, he is just 4-9 in his tour-level career on the surface. Luckily for him, Laslo Djere is not much better on the grass. Look for Purcell to look to serve and volley a lot on Monday. I like the Aussie’s clean groundstrokes and aggression to help him find a three-set victory.
Prediction: Purcell in 3
Tomas Martin Etcheverry vs Juncheng Shang
Head-to-Head: first meeting
No. 7 seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry gets his ATP Eastbourne campaign underway against 19-year-old Juncheng Shang. The Argentine is just 1-4 in tour-level grass-court matches throughout his career. Shang will be playing his first ATP grass-court match on Monday. That said, he reached the quarterfinals of the Nottingham Challenger earlier this month and has the smooth type of play that translates to grass. Give me the young Chinese in a tight two-sets.
Prediction: Shang in 2
Francisco Cerundolo vs Marcos Giron
Head-to-Head: first meeting
No. 5 seed Francisco Cerundolo will play Marcos Giron for the first time on Monday. Earlier in his career, Cerundolo was known as a clay-courter, but he had a terrific grass season in 2023, which included a title at this event. Giron is coming off a quarterfinal run to Halle and has the clean groundstrokes needed to have success on the surface. I expect a high-level, back-and-forth battle but give a slight edge to the consistency offered by the Argentine.
Prediction: Cerundolo in 3
Main Photo Credit: David Kirouac – USA TODAY Sports
