The ATP Tata Open Maharashtra in Pune is past its opening round and will begin second-round action on Day 3 with the top four seeds now getting involved as well. As always, we here at LWOT will preview and predict every match. Who is going to the quarterfinals?
ATP Pune Day 3 Predictions
Gianluca Mager vs Joao Sousa
H2H: first meeting
Mager experienced a mediocre 2-3 start to the season. The third seed is primarily a clay court specialist with one career ATP quarterfinal on hard courts. Sousa has had more hard court success in his career, two of his three ATP titles coming on this surface. The former Top 30 player had a shaky start though, caught up in a three-set battle with wildcard Arjun Kadhe. I still believe Sousa will pull through here, though I am less confident about the pick considering his first round.
Prediction: Sousa in 2
Radu Albot vs Daniel Altmaier
H2H: Albot 1-0 Altmaier
Albot continued his good form from Australia in a straightforward win over Federico Gaio. The Moldovan is looking to return to the Top 100 after dropping out of it last July, currently ranked No. 97 in the live rankings. Altmaier is the fifth seed here and beat wild card Prajnesh Gunneswaran, though the German is still looking for his first Top 200 win in 2022. Albot won their previous meeting at the Braunschweig Challenger in 2017 in a tight three-set match. I think it will be a close affair once again with Altmaier coming out on top this time.
Prediction: Altmaier in 3
Quentin Halys vs Kamil Majchrzak
H2H: first meeting
Halys continued his strong form from the Forli Challenger final and quickly dismissed seventh seed Ricardas Berankis 6-1 6-2 in just an hour and 13 minutes. His opponent, Kamil Majchrzak, defeated qualifier Jay Clarke in the first round. Though Halys and Majchrzak are both primarily Challenger players around the same age, this is their first meeting in the pros. The two faced each other at a Swiss junior event back in 2013 where the Frenchman came out on top. It will be an interesting match-up to see and on his current form, I think Halys will win and reach his first tour-level quarterfinal.
Prediction: Halys in 2
Lorenzo Musetti vs Aleksandar Vukic
H2H: first meeting
A difficult match to predict here. Musetti’s lack of form since Roland Garros is puzzling. The Italian looked like one of the best young talents in tennis but hasn’t been able to string back-to-back wins together for seven months. Musetti lost both of his matches this year to Taro Daniel and Alex De Minaur. Vukic had some good moments in Australia, reaching the quarterfinals in Sydney and beating Lloyd Harris at the Australian Open. The Australian had a tough first round, getting pushed to a third-set tiebreak by Hugo Grenier. Musetti needs to find his form soon or he will be back on the Challenger Tour by summer but I think Vukic is a tough opponent and will come out on top.
Prediction: Vukic in 3
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