Dušan Lajović vs Diego Sebastián Schwartzman Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Rio Open

Prediction published on 21/02/2023, 04:11  by Kennedy Kechula in Tennis Predictions

Fifth seed Diego Schwartzman and world number 80 Dusan Lajovic will face off in the first round of the 2023 Rio Open. These two have met four times before. After winning the first match against Schwartzman in the Davis Cup in 2015, Lajovic has been on the receiving end against the Argentine since then with two of his three losses coming at the Australian Open. The Serb serves off in Rio ranked 82nd in the live ranking. He made it through to the quarterfinals in Buenos Aires after starting his tournament in the qualifying rounds. Three of his wins came by straight sets and he started the main draw by coming from behind to defeat sixth seed and recently crowned Cordoba Open champion Sebastian Baez 3-6, 7-6, 6-3. He breezed past fellow qualifier Camilo Ugo Carabelli 6-3, 6-1 before falling in straight sets to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz. Lajovic is at his third “Golden Swing” tournament of the year and will want to build on his showing in Buenos Aires and advance to the second round here for only the fourth time in nine appearances.

Diego Schwartzman is a former champion in Rio and was a losing finalist in 2022. He loves it here and has only twice failed to qualify past the first round. The Argentine number two has however started the season in woeful form winning just one match in four tournaments played. This has resulted in him dropping out of the top 30 and starts his week ranked 36th in the ATP live ranking. He arrives here on a run of three consecutive losses all of which have been achieved by straight sets. His sole win came in the first round at the Australian Open where, seeded 23rd, he battled to defeat the qualifier Oleksii Krutykh in four sets. He will be hoping to offset this poor start that has seen him also lose his status as Argentina’s number-one ranked player. Both players are arriving in Rio after taking part in the Argentina Open. The winner will advance to the second round to face world number 57 Laslo Djere.