BNP Paribas Open: Sam Querrey vs. Daniel Altmaier 10/07/21 Tennis Prediction

Experienced Sam Querrey comes out in front of his American-loving crowd to play against the German, Daniel Altmaier, in the first round here at the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday, October 7th, 2021.

Will we see the form of Daniel Altmaier on the main tour which we have not seen since the 2020 French Open, or will Sam Querrey come out here and show us why he has been near the top of the mens game in the past, especially in these hard court conditions?

Daniel Altmaier is a relatively unknown player who has not really focused on the ATP Tour in the last year or so, mainly competing at the Challenger level, where he has some good weeks and then can have some absolutely terrible weeks. However, Daniel knows that he has a great game, and he can compete with the best in the world, as he has already beaten big names like Matteo Berrettini at a Grand Slam in 2020. The German has obviously fallen off since then, but if his one-handed backhand is firing, he can keep things interesting.

Sam Querrey will be looking to find the form that he knows he can play with, but he has only played with that form for one week this year. Sam Querrey used to be a huge threat in grass court and hard court tournaments, being able to dominate on his serve, and we saw that at the Mallorca Open earlier in the year, but since then, he has been losing in the first or second round of every tournament he plays in. The issue is that Sam has had injuries and surgeries which have limited/hurt his mobility around the court, so when his serve is not firing, he is not able to play at his best.

They have met 1 time in their career, in clay court conditions at the 2017 Geneva Open. In that match, Sam dominated and won in straight sets 6-3/6-4. Since then, Daniel has made somewhat of a name for himself, but he is still nowhere near the level required to compete week in and week out on the ATP Tour. Sam Querrey will know that he should be winning these matches to get his confidence back and give himself hope for a late career resurgence, but he will need to make sure he uses all of the momentum and the energy received from his fellow American crowd.