Hamburg Open: Dusan Lajovic vs. Lucas Pouille 7/13/21 Tennis Prediction

Dusan Lajovic (5) meets Lucas Pouille in the first round of the 2021 Hamburg Open on Tuesday, July 13th, 2021.

Will Lucas Pouille be able to get a huge win under his belt for his confidence after not having been at his best for a few years now, or will Dusan Lajovic find the form which we know he can play with on clay as he aims to get himself back into the mix in these types of tournaments?

Lucas Pouille will want to come out here and show us that he is fighting very hard to get back to his best, but the results recently have not been showing us that at all. Lucas is struggling to get anything going against any opponent he meets, no matter their ranking and he will need to find the consistency which we know he can play with. However, with this lack of confidence, injury proned body, and inconsistency, the last thing he needed to be handed was a tough opponent like Dusan Lajovic right from the start here in Hamburg.

Dusan Lajovic has been struggling with inconsistency as well, but nowhere near the level of Lucas Pouille. Dusan Lajovic is a tough opponent to come up against, especially on clay where he has been able to go far in many tournaments in the last few years. However, he will need a few strong matches under his belt I believe here in Hamburg to find his rhythm and get himself back to his best. Lajovic will be somewhat happy because he knows he can definitely beat Lucas Pouille on clay if Pouille plays like he has shown this year, but he will also be wary that if Pouille somehow finds his form, this will be a much tougher match than anticipated.

This is going to be the 5^th meeting between both players, with Dusan Lajovic having won 3 of their 4 prior encounters. Both of them are strong players who would play an incredibly entertaining match if they were both at their best, but they’re not. Lucas Pouille is the more accomplished in terms of career, but over the last few years, Lajovic has been miles ahead of him. I expect for the first set to be tight with both players getting used to the clay, but after that, Dusan Lajovic will get the win under his belt.