Dušan Lajović vs Gael Monfils Prediction & Picks - ATP Miami

Prediction published on 3/19/24, 9:10 AM  by Tyler Doty | Modified on 3/19/24 at 11:11 AM in ATP Miami Picks

Having started the season in search of results and benchmarks, Gael Monfils seems to have found the right formula. Although his performances were far from catastrophic in the first few weeks of competition, the Frenchman needed benchmark performances and to go far in the tournaments. This was first achieved at the end of February in Doha, where Gael Monfils reached the last four of the tournament, dominated by Czech nugget Jakub Mensik. Then last week in Indian Wells, where the 47th-ranked player in the world made it all the way to the last 16, dominating Hubert Hurkacz (9th) and Cameron Norrie (31st) before coming close to victory over Casper Ruud, another member of the top 10. Physically and mentally fit (the Frenchman expressed his doubts about the difficulty of being away from his child a few weeks ago, but his wife, Elena Svitolina, and their little daughter are currently with him on the American tour), Gael Monfils can play free and have ambitions. To kick off his tournament, the Frenchman will face an equally experienced player, Dusan Lajovic. More adept at clay-court, the Serb is nonetheless a solid, technical player. But this season on hard court, the Balkan tennis player is finding it hard to string together a string of successes and often sees his career come to an abrupt halt, as in the recent Acapulco and Indian Wells tournaments, where he didn't make it past the second round. Opposite the Frenchman, who is coming off an excellent tournament, the penalty could be the same: an early exit.