Dubai Tennis Championships 2021: Marton Fucsovics vs Dusan Lajovic preview, head-to-head & prediction

Match details

Fixture: Marton Fucsovics vs (11) Dusan Lajovic

Date: 17 March 2021

Tournament: Dubai Tennis Championships

Round: Third round (Round of 16)

Venue: Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Category: ATP 500

Surface: Outdoor hardcourt

Prize money: $1,897,805

Match timing: Approx. 6 pm local time, 7.30 pm IST

Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel

Marton Fucsovics vs Dusan Lajovic preview

Marton Fucsovics staged a come-from-behind victory for the second time in as many matches to seal his spot in the last 16 of the 2021 Dubai Tennis Championships.

Fucsovics came into his own after dropping the opening set in a tiebreaker to sixth seed Pablo Carreno Busta on Tuesday. Awaiting the 29-year-old in the next round is Serbia's Dusan Lajovic.

Dusan Lajovic

Lajovic scored a straight-sets win over Malek Jaziri in his first match in Dubai. He now has a chance to avenge his loss to Fucsovics at last week's Qatar Open.

The Serb started the year by reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open and upsetting Daniil Medvedev in Rotterdam. He couldn't, however, find a way past an on-song Fucsovics in Doha.

The conditions in Dubai aren't going to be too different from what the duo experienced in their last meeting. So it will be interesting to see if Lajovic approaches the match any differently this time around.

Marton Fucsovics vs Dusan Lajovic head-to-head

Marton Fucsovics has battled his way through some very tight matches at the start of the new season.

The first-round meeting in Qatar is the only time that Marton Fucsovic and Dusan Lajovic have played each other on tour. Thus, the Hungarian leads the head-to-head by a 1-0 margin.

Marton Fucsovics vs Dusan Lajovic prediction

This is a fairly well-balanced matchup, especially since both Marton Fucsovics and Dusan Lajovic have played some good tennis until this point. But Fucsovics seems to have emerged as a bit of an upset artist at the start of the new season.

The Hungarian has scored quite a few marathon match wins over higher-ranked opponents lately. And barring a last-minute withdrawal in the Rotterdam third round, he is yet to show any signs of tiredness.

Lajovic will need to try and do a few things differently if he wishes to flip the script from their last meeting. A passive approach is unlikely to reap rewards against a solid-looking Fucsovics; the Serb will have to maintain a more aggressive stance throughout the match.

In short, Lajovic will need to back his shots and take some extra risks. If he is unable to do that, Fucsovics is likely to find a way to outlast him once again.

Prediction: Marton Fucsovics to win in three sets.