Metz Open: Lorenzo Sonego vs. Marton Fucsovics 9/20/21 Tennis Prediction

Fifth seeded Italian Lorenzo Sonego will face the unseeded Marton Fucsovics of Hungary in the First Round of the 2021 Metz Open in France. The match is scheduled to be played on Monday September 20th, 2021 at 10:00am EST.

It is not often that two players that are so highly ranked meet each other in the First Round of the ATP event, but the 2021 Metz Open has a quality field and is packed with talented and top ranked players. Lorenzo Sonego and Marton Fucsovics will do battle here for a spot in the Round of 16 here in France, and it is expected to be a thrilling match and one of the picks of the First Round matches. Both players have done well this year and will be very eager to finish their 2021 seasons on a high note. Who will get the win here and advance?

Lorenzo Sonego is the fifth seed here at the Metz Open and is ranked in the top 25 on the ATP Tour, at #24. The Italian star has shown remarkable improvements over the past few seasons and has really climbed the rankings at a rapid pace, defeating numerous top players such as Novak Djokovic in recent times. After a strong start to the year he has been a bit inconsistent lately, reaching the Final in Eastbourne on grass but struggling for the most part of the hard court season. He will be aiming to get his season back on track here in Metz but has been drawn against Marton Fucsovics, a very experienced player who has had some success on this indoor surface. Sonego is the favorite here but knows that he is in for a battle and will have to be at his best if he is to advance.

Marton Fucsovics is ranked #41 in the world and is unseeded here at the 2021 Metz Open. The Hungarian is one of the most talented players on the ATP Tour, but is also one of the most inconsistent. He is known for his powerful and flashy play, capable of beating the top players on a good day but also prone to shocking losses as he tends to lose focus easily at times. Like his opponent Lorenzo Sonego he has been in relatively poor form lately and will be hoping to reverse that here in France. Despite being considered the underdog here, he has beaten Sonego twice before and will be very confident in doing it again once he can remain focused.

This is the fourth time that the two players have faced each other and Fucsovics has won two of their previous meetings, including the only one on indoor hard. While Sonego won the last time they played earlier this year in Monte-Carlo, it was on his preferred clay courts, and was a tight match. Fucsovics is a very good player on this surface with his big serve and penetrating groundstrokes and is certainly capable of causing the upset here but I am backing the Italian to win here. He is very focused and is a fighter, exactly the type of player that the Hungarian could struggle against. It will very likely be a ferocious battle and three sets is a likely outcome, but give me the more consistent player to come through, and that is Lorenzo Sonego, who will advance to the Round of 16 here at the 2021 Metz Open.