Stan Wawrinka vs Lukas Klein Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Swiss Open Gstaad

Prediction published on 14/07/2024, 01:55  by Daniel Ngulu | Modified on 15/07/2024 at 03:03 in Tennis Predictions

Eighth seed Stan Wawrinka will open his Swiss Open campaign against unseeded Lukas Klein in the first round on Monday. The winner of this encounter will play Richard Gasquet or a yet-to-be-named qualifier for a place in the quarter-finals. Here’s some data and a prediction for this match.

Wawrinka is competing in Gstaad for the 12th time. The Swiss former world number three debuted here in 2003 and made it to the final two seasons later. He has, however, never reached those heights again. The three-time major winner returned in 2023 to end a 10-year hiatus from the event and lost in the second round.

A positive from that though is that it maintained his record of never losing in the first round since 2007. He has struggled this year, compiling a 5-11 record though four of his wins came on clay. The 39-year-old is coming off a second-round exit at Wimbledon and starts the week ranked outside the ATP 100.

Lukas Klein will hope his athleticism, as he is the younger player, sees him through this first-round battle. The 26-year-old has compiled a strong 22-13 record alternating between the tour and challenger circuits. However, he has struggled in recent outings and suffered five losses in his last 10 matches.

Three of those defeats have come on clay, a surface that has previously favored him. Klein has won over 140 matches on clay in his career and claimed three titles at challenger and ITF levels.

The Slovak switched to clay last week and played at the Braunschweig Challenger where he lost in the second round. He is currently placed 118th in the live ranking, two places below his career-high world ranking.