Gijon Open 2022: Sebastian Korda vs. Jaume Munar Tennis Pick and Prediction

TennisSection previews the 2022 Gijon Open as Sebastian Korda takes on Jaume Munar in the first round on Wednesday, October 12th, 2022.

Will Sebastian Korda get off to a winning start at the Gijon Open? Or will he succumb to Jaume Munar’s relentless hitting from the baseline? This is an awkward opener for the 22-year-old American and with the indoor courts in Gijon playing much slower, it could hand the advantage to the Spaniard.

Sebastian Korda has retained his place inside the world’s top 50, but he needs a big performance this week to ensure he is not overtaken. Korda currently sits at 47th in the rankings, and a straight set second-round defeat to Maxime Cressy in Tel Aviv did not help his cause. The American is 26-19 for the season and lags way behind his career-best season in 2021 in which he won 36 matches and a maiden ATP title in Parma. He hasn’t managed a sniff at another ATP final this year, although he has come close multiple times, losing a semifinal in Estoril and reaching multiple quarterfinals.

World No. 57 Jaume Munar does not have a particularly great record indoors, having won a measly nine matches throughout his professional career. But there is reason to believe he might have success at the Gijon Open, with the laid out surface among the slowest indoor hard courts on the ATP Tour this season. Munar has been in terrific form on the Challenger Tour in 2022, winning a couple of titles on clay and coming within two spots to break the world’s top 50 earlier this year.

Sebastian Korda and Jaume Munar have not played each other on the ATP Tour. Wednesday’s match at the Gijon Open will be their first official meeting. Korda should be expected to bounce back from the Tel Aviv loss irrespective of the slow-playing surface at the event. He has the bigger serve and crisper ground strokes and that should be sufficient weaponry to defeat Munaron home turf.