Some of the first round action at the 2023 Umag Open will see world no. 93 Fabian Marozsan of Hungary take on world no. 100 Juan Manuel Cerundolo of Argentina and world no. 95 Marco Cecchinato of Italy play world no. 96 Alexander Shevchenko of Russia. Get the latest predictions along with the odds, preview and head to head for these matches along with Taro Daniel v Martin Landaluce and Dino Prizmic v Duje Ajdukovic.
Fabian Marozsan v Juan Manuel Cerundolo Preview
Head-to-Head: This will be a first meeting between the two.
Only four people have beaten Carlos Alcaraz this year and one of them is Fabian Marozsan. The 23-year-old Hungarian, who will be playing in Umag for the first time, had knocked out then no. 2 Alcaraz in the third round of the Rome Masters. It was his first ever ATP 1000 tournament and he impressed with a run to round of 16. Marozsan is 3-3 at the tour level, but 33-19 across levels this season, which includes two Challenger titles in Antalya and Perugia. He achieved a career-high ranking of 91 in June, but has slipped two places to no. 93. He is expected to do well in Umag.
Taking on Marozsan will be world no. 100 Juan Manuel Cerundolo, who too will be making his debut in the tournament. Cerundolo, who won the Cordoba Open title on his debut in 2021, is 3-6 at the tour level this year. Two of those wins came in Cordoba, where he was a quarterfinalist and one in Santiago. Overall, the 21-year-old left-hander is 29-19 this season. He has played three Challenger finals in 2023, winning two Tigre and finishing runner-up in Oeiras.
Fabian Marozsan v Juan Manuel Cerundolo Tip
Marozsan to win: 4/6
Marco Cecchinato v Alexander Shevchenko Preview
Head-to-Head: They are 0-0 at the tour level, but they met once at a lower level tournament last year and Shevchenko won that match in straight sets.
World no. 95 Marco Cecchinato will be playing in Umag for the seventh time. He has an excellent record in the tournament and had won the title in 2018 by beating Guido Pella in the final. The Italian had made it to the quarterfinals in Umag last year after coming through the qualifiers. He is 10-10 on the tour and 13-18 across levels this year. On clay (his preferred surface), the 30-year-old is 12-14 this year. His best also came on clay, as he made it to the semifinals in Estoril and was in the third round in Rome.
Facing Cecchinato is Shevchenko, who made his Grand Slam and Masters debut this year and has been quite impressive so far. The 22-year-old Russian reached the third round in Madrid and Rome and the second round at the French Open. Additionally he has been playing a lot at the Challenger level and has played in three Challenger finals, winning the titles in Tenerife and Madrid and finishing runner-up in Phoenix. Can he make a good start in the tournament?
Marco Cecchinato v Alexander Shevchenko Tip
Shevchenko has displayed better form this season and was dominant in his win over Cecchinato last year. Expect the Russian to win: 4/5
Taro Daniel v Martin Landaluce Preview
Head-to-Head: This will be a first meeting between the two.
World no. 112 Taro Daniel return to Umag for the third time. He was knocked out in the first round in his previous two appearances in 2018 and 2019. The 30-year-old Japanese is 9-9 at the tour level this year with his best being a quarterfinal finish in Acapulco. He also made it to the third rounds in Indian Wells and Miami. On clay, he has a 33-44 record on the tour and his only title also came on the surface in Istanbul in 2018.
Facing Daniel is Spain’s 17-year-old Martin Landaluce, who won the US Open boys’ singles title last year. Ranked no. 709th in the world, Landaluce made his tour level debut in Gijon last year and also played in the main draw in Madrid this year but lost in the first round in both the tournaments. now playing his third tour level tournament, he will look to put up a good fight against the experienced Japanese.
Taro Daniel v Martin Landaluce Tip
Daniel to ease Past Landaluce in straight sets: 2/9
Dino Prizmic v Duje Ajdukovic Preview
Head-to-Head: This will be a first meeting between the two.
It’s a matchup between to upcoming Croatians, who have been handed a wild card for the home tournament. Dino Prizmic is ranked no. 296th in the world. He played in Umag last year as well but went down in the first round. Prizmic is 23-9 across levels and 15-7 on clay this year. He won a Futures title this year and has featured in four quarterfinals at the Challenger level. On the tour, this will be his second main draw appearance. He qualified in Banja Luka but was beaten in the first round.
Duje Ajdukovic, on the other hand is ranked no. 326th in the world. This is the third straight year when he will be competing in the tournament. He had won his first round match in 2021 before losing the second. In 2022, he had lost his opening round match. At the lower level, the 22-year-old has been in good form this year. He has won three ITF titles from four finals. It will be interesting to see if he can trump the 17-year-old in the first round.
Dino Prizmic v Duje Ajdukovic Tip
Over 22.5 games in the match: 5/6
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The 2023 Umag Open will be played from July 24 to 30. Get our ultimate guide on tennis betting and predictions here.
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