The main draw action begins at the ATP European Open held at Antwerp, Belgium with a packed field. Important ranking points are on offer for players like David Goffin as the race to London intensifies. Gael Monfils is the top seed but will have his work cut out against the likes of Stan Wawrinka, the returning Andy Murray, and always competitive Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
We at LWOT will be writing up previews and predictions for matches at Antwerp the whole week. Here’s predicting the two scheduled matches on Day 1.
ATP European Open Day 1 Predictions
Guido Pella vs Peter Gojowczyk
Head to head – Gojowczyk 2-1 Pella
It’s a matchup of two players who’ll both be extremely desperate to find any kind of form. Peter Gojowczyk last won a match in Washington and that’s including qualifiers. Guido Pella has managed to win just five matches over six tournaments since his impressive quarter-final run at Wimbledon.
They’ve played each other thrice before with the German winning both their hardcourt meetings and the Argentine winning the clay-court match. Pella shouldn’t be too disheartened looking at their past history as his losses were in three sets and he’s clearly had the better year out of the two. Although clay is Pella’s strongest surface results-wise, the Argentine showed at Wimbledon he can adapt his game to different surfaces pretty convincingly. Gojowczyk looked woefully out of form in his recent matches and even though his sole title was in an indoor hard court tournament, the German will find it tough to progress here at Antwerp.
Prediction: Pella in 3
Lorenzo Sonego vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Head to head – Tsonga 1-0 Sonego
This is, in my opinion, a must-watch first-round clash. Lorenzo Sonego has had a breakthrough year winning his maiden tour-level title in Antalya and seeks to continue his rise in the rankings.
He faces the Frenchman, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who won the title here in 2017. While Sonego has been impressive this year, Tsonga too has had a decent year with two titles and a 28-15 record. They met earlier this year in Marrakech with Tsonga winning it 6-3 6-2. The Frenchman loves playing on indoor hard courts and has racked up 13 titles (indoor hard courts) to date. Expect a competitive match but Tsonga looks poised to edge this one.
Prediction: Tsonga in 2
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