Mallorca Championships 2021: Daniil Medvedev vs Corentin Moutet preview, head-to-head & prediction

Match details

Fixture: (1) Daniil Medvedev vs Corentin Moutet

Date: 22 June 2021

Tournament: Mallorca Championships 2021

Round: Second round (Round of 16)

Venue: Mallorca, Spain

Category: ATP 250

Surface: Grass

Prize money: €720,000

Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video

Daniil Medvedev vs Corentin Moutet preview

Having lost in the first round in each of his four previous visits to Paris, Daniil Medvedev had a surprisingly good run at Roland Garros this year, reaching the quarterfinals.

But just as the 25-year-old appeared to have overcome his deficiencies on clay, he was faced with new problems, with his grass season getting off to the worst possible start. The World No. 2 crashed out in the opening round at Halle, losing in straight sets to Jan-Lennard Struff.

The loss was by no means a disaster in terms of ATP ranking points, but it could have implications in the long run.

With the grass season truncated by a week, players have limited time to prepare for Wimbledon. The Russian required match practice to make a smooth transition from clay to grass.

The opening-round defeat at Halle robbed him of that opportunity last week. Understandably, he has accepted a wildcard into Mallorca, where he headlines the field.

Corentin Moutet

Medvedev's opponent on Tuesday, Corentin Moutet, entered the grass season on the back of an opening-round defeat to Laslo Djere at the 2021 French Open. But he has made the transition to grass relatively better than the Russian.

The Frenchman also participated in Halle last week and scored a win against seventh seed David Goffin, albeit via the Belgian's retirement after the second set. Moutet lost his second-round match to an in-form Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Ranked 85 in the world, Moutet is unseeded at Mallorca, which means he didn't have the luxury of an opening-round bye. He took on Lloyd Harris in the first round on Monday. Though the South African was undoubtedly the favorite, Moutet beat him in straight sets for the loss of only six games.

As a result, the southpaw will ride a wave of confidence going into his second-round match.

Daniil Medvedev vs Corentin Moutet head-to-head

Daniil Medvedev and Corentin Moutet will square off against each other for the first time in an official match on Tuesday. As of now, their head-to-head stands at 0-0.

However, the pair did meet a month ago at the UTS Championship on clay. Played under special rules, the exhibition match was won by Moutet 3-1.

Daniil Medvedev vs Corentin Moutet prediction

Even though Daniil Medvedev is the top seed in the draw, he is far from being a clear favorite and will face a stern test against Moutet.

The Frenchman has played only five matches on grass, but has won three of them. At Wimbledon in 2019, he came through qualifying before defeating Grigor Dimitrov in the opening round.

Given the Frenchman's prowess on this surface and the fact that he has already been conditioned in his first-round match, we give him the edge in Tuesday's encounter. With Wimbledon being only a week away, it will be interesting to see how motivated Medvedev is for the contest.

Prediction: Corentin Moutet to win in three sets.