ATP Tournament in Mallorca, 1st Round, Tuesday, 21.06.2022
There is not much time left before the tennis elite will make their way to Wimbledon. In the coming days, some of them will be testing the form under the Mallorcan sun.
A German pro is also competing here and wants to pick up on the good tendencies of the last few weeks.
A very early elimination, but a strong fight and a lot of bad luck in the draw, that’s how Daniel Altmaier’s last two tournaments can be summarised. In Stuttgart as well as in Halle he sold himself bravely.
Once 6-7, 6-7 against Oscar Otte, the other time 3-6, 5-7 against Nick Kyrgios, results that show how much the 23-year-old has improved despite the defeats. Of course, it still does not hide the fact that the world number 64 has not won a match since his triumph in the Heilbronn Challenger.
In Otte and Kyrgios he had two excellent servers who did not allow him a single break. In Dusan Lajovic, he now faces an opponent who is much smaller and less dangerous when serving.
A year ago in Croatia, the first and so far only direct duel between the two took place on clay, which went to the German with a clear 6-2, 6-4.
1.50 to 2.50 on average, Altmaier is seen ahead by the experts. After more than a month without a win, they have a lot of confidence in the German. Dusan Lajovic is one place ahead of him in the world rankings, why is he sent into the match as the underdog?
The Serb was last active at the Challenger in Parma, where he was ranked No. 2. With Francesco Passaro, Michael Geerts and Jozef Kovalik, he beat three opponents who are definitely not among the best.
He finally lost to Borna Coric 1-6, 5-7 in the semi-finals. Lajovic’s breakout performance this year came on the clay of Madrid in early May, where he defeated Adrian Mannarino and Casper Ruud.
Since then, however, the 31-year-old has been searching for his form. A year ago, his premiere on Mallorca was not crowned with great success, he already lost in the first round against Lukas Klein.
If one leaves out the Challenger in Parma, Lajovic also failed in four of his last five tournaments right at the beginning. Compared to Altmaier, however, his opponents were usually a little easier.
My Altmaier Lajovic tip
Daniel Altmaier has a great chance on Tuesday to turn strong performances into good results once again. Recently, his opponents were simply too superior, Dusan Lajovic should now be exactly on par.
As I could see in my analysis, both are close to each other in the world ranking. The recent results were similar, but with Altmaier I could see the tad more determination. Therefore, my guess is:
Altmaier wins against Lajovic!
