The first round will be completed on Day 2 at the 2022 ATP Serbia Open in Belgrade. Will the recently-crowned Marrakech champion, David Goffin, keep up his good form against Filip Krajinovic? Who do you think will advance? We also predict the rest of the day’s matches in a separate article.
ATP Belgrade Day 2 Predictions
Henri Laaksonen vs Jiri Lehecka
Head-to-head: Lehecka 1-0
Jiri Lehecka lost his way a bit after making the Rotterdam semifinals, but the young Czech seems to be back on the right track following a very solid qualifying campaign. He also defeated Henri Laaksonen just a week ago at Monte Carlo. The Finn is yet to win a match on clay this year and this feels like a case when Lehecka’s momentum from the qualifying can help him get through it again.
Prediction: Lehecka in 3
Thiago Monteiro vs Joao Sousa
Head-to-head: Sousa 1-0
Both players have been rather inconsistent recently, which makes their meeting a rather tough affair to predict. Joao Sousa scored a couple of quality wins in ATP Tour qualifying, while Thiago Monteiro sought to regain confidence through the Challenger Tour. The results were neither great nor poor and the Brazilian had such a long route in qualifying here, it might end up diminishing his chances.
Prediction: Sousa in 3
Alejandro Tabilo vs Oscar Otte
Head-to-head: First meeting
Alejandro Tabilo will have a pretty short turnaround from the Sarasota Challenger, where he lost in the semifinals to Daniel Elahi Galan. Jet lag plus changing from green clay to the European dirt might result in a tough opening match for the Chilean. While he’s playing better tennis right now than Oscar Otte, the external factors will make it much, much closer.
Prediction: Otte in 3
David Goffin vs Filip Krajinovic
Head-to-head: Goffin 4-2
David Goffin won both their clay-court meetings, but the relevance of that is heavily lessened by the fact that the most recent one came seven years ago. However, what’s important is recent form. David Goffin took the title at Marrakech and won’t be complaining about his Monte Carlo performances either. Meanwhile, Filip Krajinovic is yet to have a truly stunning result in 2022 and lost his only clay match so far at the expense of Dusan Lajovic.
Prediction: Goffin in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
