Nikoloz Basilashvili vs Laslo Djere Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Hamburg Open

Prediction published on 15/07/2021, 07:51  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 15/07/2021 at 09:35 in Tennis Predictions

We're back on a clay surface for the Hamburg European Open. Nikoloz Basilashvili is the third seed and in the last eight takes on unseeded Laslo Djere. The winners of this match take on either top seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas or sixth seed Filip Krajanovic in the semi-finals. Basilashvili lost in the first round to Andy Murray at Wimbledon and dropped down to 29th in the rankings. He began this week with a record of 19-17 for matches played in 2021. It's been a successful one though with titles won in Doha (beating both Roger Federer and Roberto Bautista Agut) and on clay in Munich. Now he's hoping to win a second German clay court tournament of the year. This is his first match of the tournament after his scheduled second round opponent Sebastian Diaz pulled out. He will be looking to improve his record against Dere who has won three of their previous four matches. The most recent meeting was in Cagliari this year when Djere won their semi-final for the loss of just two games.

Djere is the world number 57 but up to 54 in the live rankings. He can climb another two places if able to win this match. His 2021 got off to a slow start with no wins in his first three tournaments. It began to improve when returning home to South America and reaching the last eight of clay court tournaments in  Argentina and Chile. More success followed on clay in Cagliari, where he had that win over Basilashvili. Djere lost to Lorenzo Sonego in the final after winning the first set. You'd have thought that would have launched a successful European clay court season. However, Djere lost his next four matches, including a couple of losses to players ranked in the 90s. Form returned with a run to the last eight in Geneva and the third round at Roland Garros. Only one of three grass court matches were won before this return to clay. He beat seventh seeded Jan-Lennard Struff in the first round 6-4 7-5 and had another straight sets win over Thiago Seyboth Wild in round two. He has that good record against Basilashvili, who hasn't played for a couple of weeks so might be a bit rusty. Go for Djere to reach the last four and have a side-bet on a tie-break.