We have an exciting first round encounter here at the 2021 Great Ocean Road Open as Sam Querrey meets Henri Laaksonen. Will Querrey show us the Querrey of old as he aims to rise up in the rankings in 2021, or will we see a Laaksonen victory spoiling the party for the big American?
Sam Querrey struggled in 2020 due to the lack of American swing tournaments which he is used to participating in and playing his best tennis. This year, Querrey will want to improve on his ranking and some bad results which he saw in 2020, such as a loss to Andrey Rublev in the first round at the French Open when Querrey was 2-0 sets up. Querrey, when on top of his game, can still compete with some of the best players in the world as he has a massive serve, and a superb forehand. I am certain that Querrey has been preparing extremely well throughout the off-season to get his game up to speed, and ensure that he can be competitive on the hard and grass courts throughout 2021.
Henri Laaksonen is a very underrated player in my opinion. Over the last few years, Laaksonen has been able to reach the second and third round of smaller tournaments on the ATP Tour when he was considered the underdog prior to entry. Laaksonen is a very solid mover around the court, and he has a very strong serve. In 2020, however, we have not seen or heard much of him. I wonder whether he will be rusty coming into this tournament as he has not played much over the last year?
This is going to be the second meeting between both players, with Sam Querrey leading the head to head 1-0. I would expect a tight encounter, but if Sam Querrey’s serve is firing as we know if can be, I do not see him losing in the first round here against Laaksonen who has not played much, if at all, recently. Querrey’s game is well suited for these conditions, and he should be able to get some solid minutes under his belt before the start of the 2021 Australian Open, and a first round victory here will help him on the road to achieve his goals this year.