Astana Open: Benoit Paire vs. Egor Gerasimov 9/21/21 Tennis Prediction

Sixth seeded Frenchman Benoit Paire will face the unseeded Egor Gerasimov of Belarus in the First Round of the 2021 Astana Open in Kazakhstan. The match is scheduled to be played on Tuesday September 21st, 2021 at 6:00am EST.

A fascinating match, as always, is expected when Benoit Paire begins his 2021 Astana Open campaign against Egor Gerasimov. The Frenchman is one of the most talented but inconsistent players on the ATP Tour and it is usually very difficult to know what to expect when he takes the court. After a troubled start to the year where he struggled mightily he has seemingly become a new person, and has been a lot more focused and mature on the court. Now that his issues are seemingly behind him, he has been putting together some decent results on the Tour and will be aiming to get back to his best when he was among the top 20 players in the world. Egor Gerasimov is a solid player who is a capable opponent, can he cause the upset here? Or will Paire continue his much improved second half of the season with a strong showing here in Astana?

Benoit Paire is currently ranked #53 on the ATP tour and is unseeded here at the 2021 Astana Open. The Frenchman is a former top 20 player and can be an incredible player, but tends to lose focus easily and throw matches away that he should win. He had a very difficult start to the year, getting into numerous run-ins with officials and being accused of lack of sportsmanship and effort. He even was removed from the French Olympic Team due to his behavior. However, he has turned it all around lately and has had some strong results, and he been on his best behavior for the past few months. If he is indeed enjoying his tennis again then he will be a dangerous player to face, with his backhand being one of the best on tour. He should be considered the favorite here against his First around opponent Egor Gerasimov but given his history he is extremely hard to trust.

Egor Gerasimov is unseeded here at the 2021 Astana Open and is ranked #97 on the ATP Tour. The Belarusian is a very solid aggressive player who can be a bit erratic at times. His forehand is by far his biggest weapon and he will be looking for that to be firing on all cylinders as he seeks to upset sixth seeded Benoit Paire here in Kazakhstan. One thing that is going on Gerasimov’s favour is the fact that he is more comfortable on this quicker indoor surface than his opponent, and he will be looking to his big serve and forehand to end the points quickly. Despite being the underdog he will be well aware of the Frenchman’s unpredictability and inconsistency, so he will be confident heading into this match.

As with all Benoit Paire matches, it is very difficult to predict the outcome. He is perhaps the most unpredictable player on the ATP Tour and it is usually best to avoid his matches. However, he has been playing with a renewed focus recently, and seems intent on enjoying himself on courts and climbing the ranking charts. It is still difficult to fully trust him but the recent results are trending in his favour, and we will back him to defeat Egor Gerasimov here. His opponent is good enough to keep it close, but Paire has much more quality if fully focused and should win here in two close sets, potentially three.