Even though Wimbledon has just ended, the ATP Tour doesn’t take a break. Whilst Tuesday’s action at the ATP Nordea Open in Bastad does not feature any top seeds, the field is headlined by Casper Ruud and Christian Garin, who’s coming off a second week appearance at Wimbledon. We also predict the rest of the day’s matches, in two other articles. One features Emil Ruusuvuori vs Mikael Ymer, and the other highlights Henri Laaksonen vs Lorenzo Musetti.
ATP Bastad Open Day 2 Predictions
Pablo Cuevas vs Norbert Gombos
Head to head: 0-0
To the surprise of absolutely no one, both men here lost in the first round of Wimbledon so it was somewhat inevitable to see both in Bastad back on the clay, their favorite surface. Last week in a Challenger event in Austria, Cuevas won just three games–losing to Londero, who ranked outside the top 100–which doesn’t bode well coming to Bastad. Unfortunately for Gombos, it’s much the same story this year. This is no doubt a first round match between two players very much out of form desperate for any win.
Prediction: Cuevas in 3
Jiri Vesely vs Salvatore Caruso
Head-to-head: Vesely 2-0
As the head-to-head suggests, Vesely is the clear favorite here. He’s far too solid at the back of the court as well as contains more weapons than Caruso, especially on the forehand. What is up for question though is if the Czech is fit or not having retired during his second round match at Wimbledon against Marton Fucsovics. If he’s fit it’s hard to see this march going differently than their previous two matches.
Prediction: Vesely in 2
Pedro Martinez vs Dennis Novak
Head-to-head: 0-0
Unfortunately it’s not the Novak that just won Wimbledon, but another match in Bastad between players with their best results on the dirt. Coming off three consecutive losses, Novak’s done very well to come through qualifying without the loss of a single set. Martinez on the other hand is coming off a great third round result at Wimbledon beating Monfils on the way. Under normal circumstances there’s no reason why Martinez wouldn’t win this routinely but having just come back from the grass whilst his opponent has a fair few matches on the clay in recent weeks, it might just be closer than most expect.
Prediction: Martinez in 3
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