After an incredible Roland Garros final won by Carlos Alcaraz, the ATP Tour immediately moves to grass, with Stuttgart beginning this Monday. While the field is understandably not particularly stacked with top players, it should still be a nice change of pace after several months of clay court tennis and there should be plenty of high quality tennis on display.
ATP Stuttgart Day 1 Predictions
Benjamin Bonzi vs Jiri Lehecka
Head-to-head: Lehecka 2-1 Bonzi
Lehecka won with relative ease when the pair faced at the Australian Open this yearm and while he is not quite as comfortable on grass as he is on hard courts, he should still have the edge here. When fit, he has shown to have the level of a Top 20 player and he certainly has the ability to start getting some good results on grass as well.
Prediction: Lehecka in 3
Matteo Arnaldi vs Jan-Lennard Struff
Head-to-head: Arnaldi 1-1 Struff
Arnaldi is clearly the better player at this point in their respective careers, but Struff has far more experience on this surface and that definitely counts for a lot here. It should be quite a close that could genuinely go either way. Arnaldi has been making steady progress, but the jury is still out on whether his game can translate well to grass.
Prediction: Struff in 3
Roman Safiullin vs Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard
Head-to-head: first meeting
Mpetshi Perricard had his breakthrough tournament at Wimbledon last year and there is good reason for that: his serve is an enormous weapon on grass. Safiullin is a former Wimbledon quarterfinalist himself but he is on a losing streak right now and it will be very difficult to him to break the massive Mpetshi Perricard serve. The Frenchman should once again make some waves in this grass season.
Prediction: Mpetshi Perricard in 2
Jacob Fearnley vs Brandon Nakashima
Head-to-head: first meeting
It should be quite a close match between two players who have shown to be comfortable on this surface. Fearnley has been steadily rising and is closing in on the Top 50, but Nakashima is the more established player at this point and his superior experience could well be the difference between the two here in what should be a very close match.
Prediction: Nakashima in 3
Main Photo Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
