Antwerp 2020: Frances Tiafoe vs Dusan Lajovic preview, head-to-head & prediction | ATP European Open

Match details

Fixture: Frances Tiafoe vs Dusan Lajovic

Date: 19 October 2020

Tournament: European Open 2020

Round: First round

Venue: Antwerp, Belgium

Category: ATP 250

Surface: Indoor hardcourt

Prize money: Approx. €394,800

Match timing: Approx. 5 pm CEST, 8.30 pm IST

Live Telecast: USA - ESPN / Tennis Channel

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Frances Tiafoe vs Dusan Lajovic preview

After suffering an opening-round defeat in Sardinia, Frances Tiafoe will look to get back to winning ways when he takes on sixth seed Dusan Lajovic in the first round of the European Open on Monday.

Tiafoe struggled to play well on European clay, crashing out of the French Open in the first round against Jan-Lennard Struff. The American star was the top seed at the ATP Challenger event in Forli, but he couldn't get past Lorenzo Musetti in the Round of 16.

Tiafoe's best performance over the last month was at the Challenger in Parma, where he captured the trophy.

Dusan Lajovic

Dusan Lajovic, meanwhile, made it to the Hamburg Open quarterfinals last month, but just like Tiafoe he fell short in the opening round at Sardinia. At Roland Garros, the Serb beat Gianluca Mager in the first round before suffering a five-set defeat to Kevin Anderson in the second.

The World No. 24 had a forgettable hardcourt run in the United States prior to the clay swing, so it will be interesting to see how he performs now that the tour has moved to quicker surfaces again.

Frances Tiafoe vs Dusan Lajovic head-to-head

Dusan Lajovic leads Frances Tiafoe 1-0 in the head-to-head record. The two players had clashed in the first round of the 2017 Indian Wells Masters, where Lajovic emerged victorious 6-3, 6-3.

Frances Tiafoe vs Dusan Lajovic prediction

Frances Tiafoe should win this one

Neither Frances Tiafoe nor Dusan Lajovic has been in great form of late, but Tiafoe did at least have a decent run at the US Open last month.

Tiafoe had made it to the fourth round at Flushing Meadows, defeating Andreas Seppi, John Millman and Marton Fucsovics along the way. On the other hand, Lajovic had lost in the first round of the US Open - to the unseeded Egor Gerasimov.

Tiafoe's game is better suited to hardcourts than Lajovic's, and we can expect the American's big serve and forehand to do some damage in Antwerp.

Prediction: Frances Tiafoe to win in three sets.