ATP Stuttgart Day 1 Predictions Including Tommy Paul vs Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard

The grass-court season starts immediately after the French Open, with the ATP Stuttgart Open one of the two tournaments underway this week. As always, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the slate, as well as the action from WTA Queen’s Club and WTA Den Bosch, but who will advance?

ATP Stuttgart Day 1 Predictions

Martin Landaluce vs Pierre-Hugues Herbert

Head-to-head: first meeting

20-year-old Martin Landaluce is a talented youngster who has shown promise and is capable of achieving great heights. The Spaniard is coming off a great clay swing, but he has never played a tour-level match on this surface and could need some matches to get used to it. Pierre-Hugues Herbert is ranked well outside the top 200, but he has plenty of experience on grass and is coming off solid wins to advance through the qualifying. The Frenchman should have the edge in this one in conditions he enjoys, but it could be a close contest.

Prediction: Herbert in 3

Fabian Marozsan vs Gauthier Onclin

Head-to-head: first meeting

Fabian Marozsan had a forgettable European clay season and arrives at ATP Stuttgart having lost four of his last five matches – hardly the ideal preparation for the Hungarian. He is also quite inexperienced on grass and may find it difficult to play his best tennis on these courts which will play fast and bounce low. Gauthier Onclin, meanwhile, has already won two matches in Germany after coming through the qualifying with wins over Orlando Luz and Marc-Andre Huesler, so should be the sharper of the two out of the blocks. He may well be able to pull off the upset here.

Prediction: Onclin in 3

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs Mattia Bellucci

Head-to-head: Davidovich Fokina 1-1 Bellucci

Mattia Bellucci played in the Birmingham Challenger last week, where he lost badly in the first round. But that match time on grass puts him ahead of Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who will play his first match of the season on this surface. However, the Spaniard has much more experience and a lot more match wins on grass that Bellucci, and for that reason alone, he should have enough to advance.

Prediction: Davidovich Fokina in 3

Tommy Paul vs Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard

Head-to-head: Mpetshi Perricard 1-0 Paul

Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard has won just one tour-level match since making back-to-back quarterfinals to start the season in January. He put up a good performance against Novak Djokovic, taking a set off the Serbian, in the first round at the French Open, but this is the surface where he will be looking to get his season back on track. However, he faces Tommy Paul, who found some much-needed form in Paris and will be looking to build on it. The ATP Stuttgart Open is one of the quickest tournaments on the tour, but if Paul can make some timely returns, he will be the favourite to win.

Prediction: Paul in 3

Main photo credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports