Day two at the ATP Lyon Open, a vital warm-up event ahead of next week’s French Open, should feature plenty of entertaining action. There are eight matches on the slate and, as always, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for all of them, including Gael Monfils vs Lloyd Harris. But who will book their place in the second round?
ATP Lyon Open Day 2 Predictions
Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Lorenzo Musetti
Head-to-head: Auger-Aliassime 1-0 Musetti
This is the standout match on day two at the ATP Lyon Open. Felix Auger-Aliassime’s collaboration with Toni Nadal has not yet yielded a spectacular improvement in his results, but the Canadian has made a steady enough start to the European clay-court swing, reaching the quarterfinals at the ATP Barcelona Open and the third round last time out in Rome. Encouragingly, the player he beat to open his account in the Catalonian capital was none other than Lorenzo Musetti.
The Italian clearly has an exceedingly bright future with his ability to generate pace and spin off the ground sure to stand in him good stead in the years to come, particularly on the clay. But he is not yet the finished article, with Auger-Aliassime demonstrating that much with his 4-6 6-3 6-0 win in Barcelona. His backhand can wilt under pressure and his return of serve is a weakness yet to be addressed. This may go the distance, but expect Auger-Aliassime to come out on top again.
Prediction: Auger-Aliassime in 3
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Joao Sousa vs Kamil Majchrzak
Head-to-head: Majchrzak 1-0 Sousa
If there have been few obvious causes of Joao Sousa’s decline, it has been no less dramatic for that. The Portuguese has won 199 matches at ATP-level, but arrived at the ATP Lyon Open with just one win and six first-round defeats on the main tour to his name all season. However, he has shown some signs of life of late and played well to come through the qualifying, beating Roberto Marcora and Arthur Rinderknech to reach the main draw.
Kamil Majchrzak also had to negotiate the qualifying, getting the better of Liam Broady from a set down before dismissing the challenge of Alessandro Giannessi in straight sets. He also beat Sousa in their only previous meeting, which came in the qualifying draw at the relocated ATP Cincinnati Masters last season, for the loss of only six games. But it is Sousa who has the greater clay-court pedigree and the former-world #33 should have just about enough to reach the second round.
Prediction: Sousa in 3
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Richard Gasquet vs Gregoire Barrere
Head-to-head: first meeting
There may be a huge gulf in experience between Gregoire Barrere and Richard Gasquet, but the younger of the two Frenchmen should not be counted out here. Gasquet has played well at times this season, but he has struggled to translate that good tennis into victories. Fitness has also been an issue for the 34-year-old, who has played just seven matches at tour-level this year and was forced to withdraw in both Qatar and Estoril.
Barrere, meanwhile, has played the majority of his tennis at Challenger-level and enjoyed limited success, bar a run to the final in Lille. But he played well to secure his place in the main draw at the ATP Lyon Open, beating Evgeny Donskoy and his countryman Antoine Hoang in the qualifying. Still, if Gasquet is not the force he once was, he remains a wily campaigner and arguably an underrated clay-courter. Expect him to see off Barrere’s challenge.
Prediction: Gasquet in 3
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Aslan Karatsev vs Jannik Sinner
Head-to-head: Karatsev 1-0 Sinner
This is another match that should offer plenty of entertainment. Aslan Karatsev has been a revelation this season with the Russian starting the year by reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open as a qualifier, before winning the title in Dubai and beating Djokovic en route to the final in Belgrade. Jannik Sinner has had plenty to celebrate this season too, with the Italian breaking into the top 20 for the first time in his career and reaching the final at the ATP Miami Open.
But the clay-court swing has not gone particularly well for the Italian teenager. He did reach the semifinals in Barcelona, but lost early in Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome – though he was not helped by having to face Novak Djokovic in the Principality and Rafael Nadal in the Italian capital. This looks like being another exceedingly tough draw, but Sinner showed enough against Nadal in Rome to suggest that he should be able to avenge his defeat at Karatsev’s hands in Dubai.
Prediction: Sinner in 3
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