Aslan Karatsev vs Lorenzo Sonego 9/19/22 Moselle Open Picks, Predictions, Odds

Aslan Karatsev will meet Lorenzo Sonego in the First Round of the 2022 Moselle Open in Metz, France. The match is scheduled to be played on Monday September 19th, 2022.

This is yet another great First Round matchup at the Moselle Open as Aslan Karatsev and Lorenzo Sonego do battle. There really is not much to separate these two experienced players, and it can go either way. A close battle seems likely and it will be interesting to see who holds their nerve enough to advance to the Round of 16.

Aslan Karatsev is the 6th seed here at the Moselle Open and is ranked 39th in the world. The big hitting Russian started the year with a bang and a title, but has been in miserable form since winning the Sydney Open. With a dismal 15-23 record on the year, things are looking grim as he attempts to end the season on a high note. A disappointing US Open has added to his misery, and while he is seeded quite high here at 6th, he faces the dangerous Lorenzo Sonego in the First Round. Karatsev has the ability to out-strike anyone on the tour on a good day, but those have been few and far between here and it is hard to trust him.

Lorenzo Sonego is ranked 64th in the world and like his opponent Aslan Karatsev has had a poor season. The Italian seemed primed for a big year after a strong 2021 season, but has struggled greatly with consistency in 2022. Equipped with all the tools to do well on all surfaces, he has been very wasteful in matches this year, making uncharacteristic errors and losing to players that he shouldn’t. To add to reasons why we are hesitant to back him, he struggled badly with cramps at the US Open. Granted, it was a five set battle against Jordan Thompson, but he looked totally out of it at the end of the match and we haven’t heard much about him since, other than he was skipping Davis Cup last week. If fit, Sonego can win this match but there are plenty of question marks around him.

This is a match that should be very close and could be exciting, but neither player inspire much confidence. They both are ultra-talented and are capable of top 20 level tennis, but have each had miserable seasons this year and are hard to back of late. Given all of the information that we have, we are going to back Aslan Karatsev to win this match, mainly due to Sonego’s health issues but also since Karatsev leads the head to head 3-0. The Russian clearly has his number thus far and I expect that to continue, despite his struggles this year.