TennisSection previews the 2022 Nordea Open as Aslan Karatsev takes on Lorenzo Sonego in the first round on Tuesday, July 12th, 2022.
Will Aslan Karatsev get his season back on track at the Nordea Open? Or will his recent struggles continue when he faces Italy’s World No. 54 Lorenzo Sonego?
After his absence at Wimbledon due to the ban imposed by the organizers to all Russian and Belarusian players, Aslan Karatsev will play for the first time in three weeks. The 28-year-old enjoyed a breakout year in 2021, highlighted by his astonishing run to the semifinals of the Australian Open as a qualifier. Karatsev even began the 2022 season on a positive note by winning the title in Sydney. But he has performed dismally ever since, and there are fresh reports that he is subject to a match fixing investigation along with his former coach Yahor Yatsyk. While we await more details, the World No. 14 has a difficult opener at the Nordea Open as he takes on Lorenzo Sonego.
Lorenzo Sonego, meanwhile, arrives at the Nordea Open on the back of a very strong showing on grass. He reached the third round of Wimbledon where he lost to 22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal. Overall, he tallied five wins on the surface and that includes a quarterfinal run in Stuttgart where he lost to eventual champion Matteo Berrettini. Sonego will be looking to improve on his subpar record on the European clay in 2022. Aside from his third round showing at the French Open, he only managed to register two wins in four tournaments.
Aslan Karatsev leads Lorenzo Sonego 2-0 in their head-to-head. He defeated the Italian at the 2021 Dubai Championships and more recently at the Sydney International earlier this year. Incidentally, both times Karatsev went on to win the title. It may be a good omen the Russian is taking on Sonego once again, but it is hard to overlook his recent run of form. Karatsev has been shockingly bad and it will be tough to see him get a result at the Nordea Open.
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