Kitzbuhel 2022: Aslan Karatsev vs Dusan Lajovic preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick | Generali Open

Match Details

Fixture: (4) Aslan Karatsev vs Dusan Lajovic.

Tournament: Generali Open 2022.

Round: Second Round (Round of 16)

Venue: Kitzbuhel, Austria.

Category: ATP 250.

Surface: Clay.

Prize money: €534,555.

Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | Canada - TSN | Australia - Kitzbuhel.

---

Aslan Karatsev vs Dusan Lajovic preview

Aslan Karatsev at the 2022 Hamburg European Open.

After a first-round bye, fourth seed Aslan Karatsev will lock horns with World No. 80 Dusan Lajovic in the second round of the 2022 Generali Open.

Karatsev's season has been marked by severe inconsistency this year, but he has been quite steady over the past couple of weeks. At the Swedish Open, he defeated Lorenzo Sonego and Hugo Gaston to reach the quarterfinals. He lost to eventual champion Francisco Cerundolo in the last eight.

Karatsev then competed at the Hamburg European Open. He defeated Nikoloz Basilashvili in the first round and followed it up with a win over Daniel Elahi Galan. He once again lost to Cerundolo in the quarterfinals, despite serving for the match in the deciding set.

Karatsev has now returned to compete in Kitzbuhel after a gap of eight years. During his previous appearance in 2014, he lost to Joao Sousa in the final qualifying round.

Dusan Lajovic at the 2022 French Open.

Dusan Lajovic was originally slated to face Lorenzo Sonego in the first round. But after the withdrawals of Casper Ruud and Matteo Berrettini, the top two seeds, the draw was reshuffled. Consequently, the Serb's new opponent was Vitaliy Sachko, the World No. 265.

Lajovic started the match on a slow note as Sachko won the first three games to lead 3-0. The Serb leveled things up by winning the next three games in a row. Following a hold of serve by Sachko, Lajovic once again claimed three consecutive games to clinch the set.

The second set was closely fought. Lajovic was the first to get to a break point in the 11th game of the set, but failed to convert. With the Serb serving to stay in the set at 6-5, he saved a set point to take the set to a tie-break.

Lajovic was the steadier of the two in the tie-break and won it to take the match 6-4, 7-6 (5).

---

Aslan Karatsev vs Dusan Lajovic head-to-head

The two have not crossed paths prior to this on the ATP tour, so the head-to-head currently stands at 0-0.

---

Aslan Karatsev vs Dusan Lajovic odds

Player	Moneyline	Handicap Bets	Total Games (Over & Under)
Aslan Karatsev	-140	+1.5 (-350)	Over 22.5 (-110)
Dusan Lajovic	+110	-1.5 (+230)	Under 22.5 (-130)

All odds are sourced from BetMGM.

---

Aslan Karatsev vs Dusan Lajovic prediction

Aslan Karatsev at the 2022 Australian Open.

Karatsev finally seems to be finding his form after a string of poor results. With consecutive quarterfinals in Bastad and Hamburg, he'll be eager to keep the momentum going.

Lajovic has struggled a fair bit recently. He hasn't won consecutive matches since May, when he did so at the Madrid Open. The Serb has only won two of his last eight matches, with one of those victories coming after his opponent retired midway through their contest.

Lajovic was tested decently by Sachko, a player ranked outside the top 200 in the first round here. Against an in-form Karatsev, he'll need to step up his game considerably.

The Russian will look to overwhelm his opponent with his heavy groundstrokes, which have been hitting the spots quite well recently. Lajovic is a pretty capable player on clay, and his best chance of turning his season around seems to be on the red dirt. His kick serve is pretty effective on the surface and he's quite steady from the baseline as well.

Karatsev will be more confident based on his recent form. From what we've seen from both players in recent weeks, the Russian is likely to continue his campaign in Kitzbuhel at Lajovic's expense.

Pick: Aslan Karatsev to win in three sets.