Luca Van Assche vs Fabio Fognini Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Umag Open

Prediction published on 21/07/2024, 10:32  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 21/07/2024 at 10:42 in Tennis Predictions

Two unseeded players face each other in the first round of the clay court Croatia Open in Umag. Fabio Fognini takes on Luca Van Assche with the winner being up againt the third seeded Holger Rune in the next round.

Fognini is 70th in the live rankings and last week reached the quarter-finals in the Gstad clay court event. He was the seventh seed in that tournament and won two matches before being beaten in straight sets by Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Before that, his last tournament was Wimbledon where he got to the last 32. The first round of that Grand Slam saw him beat Van Assche in straight sets, losing nine games in three sets. Fognini has had some success on clay but won't be playing at the Olympics in Paris.

He made it to the last eight in Marrakech after having to come through the qualifying rounds. His only other quarter-final appearance this year was in a Challenger Tour event held in Perugia, losing to Luciano Darderi.

Luca Van Assche is down at 104th in the live rankings. He played in the Swedish Open last week and lost in the first round to qualifier Duje Ajdukovic, losing both sets 6-3. He hasn't won an ATP Tour main draw match since April.

That was in the clay court tournament held in Madrid but he's yet to win two matches in the main draw of an ATP Tour event this year. He's also failed to make it into the French team for the Olympics. We tip Fognini to get the win here.