There looks set to be plenty of entertaining tennis on day three at the ATP Geneva Open. There are nine matches on the slate, featuring both first and second round action, and we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match, including Fabio Fognini vs Guido Pella. But who will advance?
ATP Geneva Open Day 3 Predictions
Stefano Travaglia vs Marco Cecchinato
Head-to-head: Travaglia 2-0 Cecchinato
It is sometimes hard to make sense of Marco Cecchinato’s thrilling run to the French Open semifinals in 2018 when it is viewed in the context of the Italian’s struggles since. His efforts in Paris, allied with triumphs in Umag, Budapest and Buenos Aires, saw him reach a career-high ranking of world #16 in February, 2019, but he has since fallen outside the world’s top 100 and he has won just five of his 16 tour-level matches so far this season. That is a fairly remarkable rise and fall.
But he impressed in the qualifying at the ATP Geneva Open, beating Ilya Marchenko and Daniel Altmaier without dropping a set. Up against Stefano Travaglia, who has been in indifferent form of late, that match sharpness and familiarity with the conditions could give him a vital edge. Travaglia did win their two previous meetings, but the most recent of them came in 2017. A great deal has changed for both since, Cecchinato most of all, and the one-time world #16 should have enough here.
Prediction: Cecchinato in 3
Embed from Getty Images
Marton Fucsovics vs Henri Laaksonen
Head-to-head: first meeting
Marton Fucsovics has received some exceedingly tough draws this season, facing Andrey Rublev no less than four times as well as Dominic Thiem in Rome. He may well have been somewhat relieved to find that third seed Cristian Garin had withdrawn from the tournament before their first-round encounter as a result. In the Chilean’s place, Fucsovics will take on world #150 Henri Laaksonen in what looks like a more straightforward matchup for the Hungarian.
That being said, Laaksonen should not be underestimated. The Swiss has not been a particularly consistent performer over the course of his career, but he has plenty of power and will not want for motivation playing on home turf. He should also be accustomed to the conditions in Geneva after coming through the qualifying. But Fucsovics is a former-champion at the ATP Geneva Open and it is hard to see Laaksonen going toe-to-toe with the Hungarian and coming out on top.
Prediction: Fucsovics in 2
Embed from Getty Images
Reilly Opelka vs Pablo Cuevas
Head-to-head: Cuevas 1-0 Opelka
This should be an interesting test for Reilly Opelka. The American did not have much of a clay-court resume heading into 2021, but he arrives at the ATP Geneva Open fresh from an excellent week in Rome where he made his first semifinal at Masters 1000 level. It was not entirely surprising to see him enjoying the conditions in the Italian capital, with his big serve and easy power rewarded by the high-bouncing courts at the Foro Italico.
Pablo Cuevas, however, is an experienced clay-court campaigner, who will surely do all that he can to make life uncomfortable for Opelka. And although the Uruguayan’s powers are on the wane, he impressed in beating Jakub Paul and Lorenzo Giustino to reach the main draw. Unfortunately for Cuevas, it is one thing to attempt to disrupt Opelka and quite another to actually do it against a player with such powerful weapons.
Prediction: Opelka in 3
Embed from Getty Images
Roger Federer vs Pablo Andujar
Head-to-head: first meeting
It is something of a surprise that this will be the first meeting between Pablo Andujar and Roger Federer. Both men are in the twilight stages of their career, having overcome serious injury problems to make some late additions to their trophy cabinet. Of course, the prizes were rather more glittering in Federer’s case, but one suspects that the great Swiss, who is searching for the 104th title of his career this week, will not underestimate the scale of his task up against Andujar.
Federer will be the heavy favourite coming into the match, but he has not played since losing in the quarterfinals in Doha and Andujar has a fine record on the clay. The Spaniard has won four tour-level titles on the surface and reached a further five finals. That being said, he has just four wins against top-ten opposition and none since 2015. Andujar’s solid baseline play may have served him well against Jordan Thompson in the first round, but it is hard to see it proving as effective against Federer.
Prediction: Federer in 2
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
