TennisSection previews the 2021 Swedish Open as Lorenzo Musetti (6) meets Henri Laaksonen in the First Round on Tuesday July 13th, 2021.
Young Italian star Lorenzo Musetti will begin his 2021 Swedish Open campaign against Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland. Musetti has really taken the ATP Tour by storm over the past few seasons with his flashy play and huge upsets. This will be the first ATP tournament that he will play as a seeded player, and will be hoping to make his mark here. Can the experienced Henri Laaksonen play spoiler and send the youngster packing here in Bastad?
Lorenzo Musetti is currently ranked #62 on the ATP Tour and is the sixth seed here at the 2021 Swedish Open held in Bastad. A former junior world number one, he burst onto the ATP Tour last year with a string of impressive results, notably defeating Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori en route to the Round of 16. He has continued that momentum into 2021, reaching Semi-Finals in Sardinia and Acapulco, defeating Diego Schwartzman for his first top 10 win. Greater things are surely to come for the talented Italian, and he has the opportunity to break into the top 50 with a strong result here, and the draw is set up for him making a deep run here. He enters this match against Henri Laaksonen as the favorite, but he would be wise to not underestimate the veteran who is capable of some strong tennis on occasion.
Henri Laaksonen is unseeded here at the 2021 Swedish Open, and is ranked #134 on the ATP Tour. He is a 12 year veteran of the Tour and has a wealth of experience at the highest level, although he has not always been consistent with his results. Laaksonen splits his time between the ATP and Challenger Tours and will be hoping to jump start his season here to re-enter the top 100 but has been given a difficult draw here as he will face Lorenzo Musetti. He has a big serve and powerful groundstrokes, though those will be somewhat nullified on this clay surface. He is the big underdog here against Musetti but his experience will be very useful here against the sometimes-erratic youngster, and he will be backing himself to do well here.
This will be the first time that the two players are facing each other on the ATP Tour, and thus the head to head record stands at 0-0. This is a potentially tricky First Round match for the young Italian Star Lorenzo Musetti, but it is one that I expect him to pass with flying colors. He is still quite inexperienced, but he has shown that his game is no joke, and has displayed maturity beyond his years. Musetti certainly has the quality to defeat Henri Laaksonen here, and while I do think that the Swiss will provide a sterner test than the rankings suggest, it is not likely that he can get the win. Musetti has too much firepower for his opponent here, and I am backing to come through here and advance to the Round of 16 here at the 2021 Swedish Open.
Free Tennis Pick and Prediction: Lorenzo Musetti to win in straight sets
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