The first-round action of the Vienna Open in Austria will see Serbian Dušan Lajović, the world number 26, take on lucky loser Lorenzo Sonego, currently ranked 42nd, on Tuesday, October 27. The match is likely to begin sometime after 5 pm local time (5 pm BST or 12 noon Eastern Time). Get the live streaming options of this Dušan Lajović v Lorenzo Sonego match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Dušan Lajović v Lorenzo Sonego Head to Head
This will be the third meeting between the two players.
They are currently tied 1-1 on head-to-head meetings. Dušan Lajović’s win came in the quarterfinals of the 2019 Monte-Carlo Masters; that win taking him to the tournament’s final.
Lorenzo Sonego’s victory is the more recent one. He won in straight sets in the first round of the 2020 Rio Open.
Additionally, all their meetings have been on clay courts.
Also Read:
Lajović’s Not So Good Record On Anything That Isn’t Clay
Dušan Lajović, the world No. 26, is set to begin his latest campaign against lucky loser Lorenzo Sonego. He was initially scheduled to play Diego Schwartzman in his opening round fixture, but the Argentine opted out in the last minute, possibly due to his recent exploits in the Cologne Open in which he reached the tournament’s final.
This decision must have eased Lajović’s nerves, who’s had a recently torrid run of form. The last thing he’d have possibly wanted was to face an inform Schwartzman. Though the task may have been lessened, he still enters this tie as the bookies’ underdog.
This could be because he fares better on clay instead of the quicker surfaces. He has a 7-6 record on hard courts this year and has lost his sole indoor hard court match of the year, which was last week in the Antwerp Open against Frances Tiafoe.
In fact, he has a torrid record on hard and indoor hard courts this year. Excluding the inaugural ATP Cup, he’s played in a total of five tournaments on both those courts. His best so far has been a third-round berth in the Australian Open, followed by a second-round finish in Mexico, and the rest have all been first-round eliminations.
To add to that, recent sub-par performances on his favored clay in tournaments like the Sardinia Open and Kitzbuhel that have slanted his form, and it becomes clear why he comes in as the underdog.
Yet he can take pride in the fact that his opponent isn’t really in any great form, and also has a statistical dislike of hard courts.
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Sonego’s Similar Struggles On The Surface
It’s hard to determine why the bookies have the Italian Lucky loser as the favorite in this tie. His form has been more than mixed. He’s played in eleven matches post-hiatus and lost six of them. He may have made it to the fourth round in the French Open, but other than that, his other tournaments in the past three months have yielded first and second-round eliminations.
His only experience on indoor hard courts this year was in the recent Vienna Open qualifiers. He won the first round-qualifier against Lucas Miedler but lost the qualifying competition against Aljaž Bedene, which earned him this lucky loser label after Schwartzman pulled out.
Additionally, he’s played main draws of five hard court tournaments in the entire year and has faced first-round elimination in each of those tournaments.
Plus, his recent call up was on short notice, which asks the question of how prepared he must have been to step in.
Nevertheless, he comes in as the favorite and is expected to hand the Serb a hard match. His great footwork and consistency can be of advantage if he’s to handle Lajović’s backhand and reliable serve. However, Lajović’s experience and slightly better form may be the determining factors of this tie.
Lajović v Sonego Prediction and Tip
It’s still a hard match to call. I expect it to have many games and possibly a third set, as their recent matches have shown, and also for Lajović to pull through despite being the underdog. With the value that the Serb has, a win for him seems like the best option.
Tip: Dušan Lajović to win: 1/1 (bet365)
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The Vienna Open 2020 will be played from October 26 to November 1. You can watch & bet on the Vienna Open here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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