ATP Mallorca Open is one of the two tournaments which is played a week before The Championships at Wimbledon. Ben Shelton is the top seed this week with other exciting players and matches to look forward to. As always, we here at LWOT will offer our predictions for every match on the slate for Day 2. But who will advance to the second round?
ATP Mallorca Day 2 Predictions
Jaume Munar vs Sebastian Ofner
Head-to-Head: Munar 1-0 Ofner
A match between two players sitting outside the top 50 in the rankings. Jaume Munar has played only five matches outside of clay this season and will be playing his first match on grass. Grass is the least favourite surface for Munar, as he has won only 2 matches on it so far. Sebastian Ofner lost two close matches in the opening round of his last two grass competitions. He lost to the eventual champion, Jack Draper, in Stuttgart and Zhizhen Zhang, who made the semifinals in Halle. Munar is playing at home, which will give him some confidence, but at the end of the day, it’s grass, and Ofner’s game suits better on this surface.
Prediction: Ofner in 3
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Luciano Darderi vs Pedro Martinez
Head-to-Head: First meeting
Luciano Darderi was well outside the top 100 at the beginning of the year and is now well inside the top 50. This will be his first appearance at the Mallorca Open and his second tour-level match on grass. Despite being his first match on this surface, he gave a tough fight to Jan-Lennard Struff in Halle. He has incredible athleticism and good serve. Pedro Martinez lost in straight sets last week to Christopher Eubanks. His serve is not that effective on grass, and the low bounce troubles him. If Darderi can play like he did against Struff, he will win this.
Prediction: Darderi in 3
Fabio Fognini vs Gijs Brouwer
Head-to-Head: First meeting
Fabio Fognini doesn’t often play a warm-up tournament on grass before Wimbledon, but he can use a couple of wins here to increase his ranking. Grass is not his best surface, but he can play on it, and his experience will come in handy against his relatively inexperienced opponent. Gijs Brouwer comes into this match as a lucky loser. He has played quite a lot on grass already, as he reached the quarterfinals of Den Bosch with some impressive wins. His high first-serve percentage will help him against Fognini, which may prove to be the deciding factor.
Prediction: Brouwer in 3
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Main Photo Credit: Taya Gray/The Desert Sun/USA TODAY NETWORK
