TennisSection previews the 2021 Andalucia Open as Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (5) meets Damir Dzumhur in the First Round on Tuesday April 6thth, 2021.
An interesting First Round match awaits us at the 2021 Andalucia Open, a clay court event in Marbella, Spain. Fifth seeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain takes on Bosnian player Damir Dzumhur in what is expected to be a high quality match. Will local player Fokina advance here as expected? Or will the veteran Dzumhur cause the huge upset here in Spain?
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina is currently ranked #56 in the ATP world ranking and is a very talented young player. At home on both the hard and clay courts, he has been in solid form so far here in 2021 and will be eager to break into the top 50 for the first time. Highlighted by a Quarter-Final appearance in Marseille, he has been very consistent so far this season without really breaking through at any one event. He has a great opportunity here at the 2021 Andalucia Open with a relatively weak field, and a good draw. His main strength is his variety, and he is an exceptional mover on clay. The Spaniard enters this match as the heavy favorite to win here against Damir Dzumhur, an opponent that has declined in recent years but cannot be taken lightly.
Damir Dzumhur is a veteran of the ATP Tour and is slowly approaching the end of his career. Once ranked as high as #23 in the world, he currently finds himself at #126 and mainly competes on the Challenger Tour at this stage of his career. He is still a relatively dangerous opponent but has lost a lot of his speed and mobility over the years, and it remains a matter of time before he retires. He enters this event in poor form and it will take a titanic effort on his part to get the upset here at the 2021 Andalucia Open. Dzumhur is a very determined player and rarely gives anything away but it is unlikely that he will have the firepower to trouble Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. While he is the big underdog here there is no doubt that he will fight for every point and the Spaniard should not discount him here.
The two players have faced each other once before, with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina leading the head to head series 1-0. He defeated Damir Dzumhur last year in straight sets in Cologne, on hard courts. Now that they are playing on clay in Spain, he should have an even bigger advantage. Despite the huge difference in rankings, I expect this to be a relatively close match, with both players having a tremendous fighting spirit. All things considered, I am going with the Spaniard to get the win here. So many factors are in his favor, he has more firepower, is more comfortable on clay, is higher ranked and is playing at home. Damir Dzumhur is not the type of opponent that you want to face in the First Round, but I expect Alejandro Davidovich Fokina to have too much for him here. The Spaniard will win this and advance to the Round of 16 here at the 2021 Andalucia Open.
Free Tennis Pick and Prediction: Alejandro Davidovich Fokina to win.
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