TennisSection previews the 2021 Lyon Open as David Goffin (4) meets Aljaz Bedene in the Round of 16 on Wednesday May 19th, 2021.
Can David Goffin continue his good start to the clay court season here at the 2021 Lyon Open? Or will Aljaz Bedene cause the massive upset? Both men have been having inconsistent seasons so far in 2021 and will be seeking a strong showing here in France to get their seasons back on track. Who will win and advance to the Quarter-Finals?
David Goffin is currently ranked #13 in the ATP world rankings and is a former top 10 player. The Belgian #1 will undoubtedly be seeking to re-enter the top 10, and started his year off well, winning his first ATP title since 2017 in Montpellier. Unfortunately he has had some poor performances since, and will be hoping to do well here at the 2021 Lyon Open. Goffin showed signs of life by reaching the Quarter-Finals at the Monte-Carlo Masters, defeating Madrid champion Alexander Zverev in the process. He starts his Lyon campaign against Slovenian Aljaz Bedene, and will be very confident of getting the victory here over an opponent who has also struggled with consistency this season.
Aljaz Bedene is ranked #55 in the world and is a very solid player on all surfaces. The Slovenian has had an inconsistent 2021 season, but has had some impressive showings lately, defeating Sebastian Korda in Serbia before losing a tight battle to Aslan Karatsev, going down 7-6 in the third. He has started strongly here at the 2021 Lyon Open, destroying veteran Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-2, 6-3 displaying some attacking baseline tennis. Bedene is the type of players who is good at everything but great at none, and lacks the necessary weapons to trouble the top players. While David Goffin has not been at his best in recent years he is still considered an elite player and Bedene will be the heavy underdog here at the 2021 Lyon Open.
This will be the first time that the two players have faced each other on the ATP Tour, with their head to head record standing at 0-0. They faced each other in the qualifying event at a Challenger event in 2010, with Bedene claiming the win in three sets. While it has been difficult to back David Goffin in recent times due to his inconsistent play, I am going to do that here. He is still very capable of elite tennis, and it is unlikely that Aljaz Bedene will be able to cause him many issues here. Goffin is prone to self-destructing and losing while in command, but the veteran Belgian has bags of experience and I think he will get the win here. The Slovenian is no pushover and will work hard for every point, but expect David Goffin to get the straight sets win here, advancing to the Quarter-Finals of the 2021 Lyon Open.
Free Tennis Pick and Prediction: David Goffin to win.
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