Cagliari R2 previews and predictions: Musetti vs. Evans, Sonego vs. Simon

Fellow Italians Lorenzo Musetti and Lorenzo Sonego will be in action at home in Cagliari on Thursday. They are set for respective second-round showdowns against top seed Dan Evans and French veteran Gilles Simon.

(1) Dan Evans vs. Lorenzo Musetti

Evans and Musetti will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers in the blockbuster matchup on Thursday’s order of play at the Sardegna Open. Musetti is unseeded but has to be considered one of the title favorites based on current form, the clay-court surface, and home-court advantage in Italy. The 19-year-old is already up to 90th in the world thanks to a third-round run in Rome as qualifier last fall, a Forli Challenger title, and six main-tour wins this season. The latter number includes a 6-0, 6-1 humiliation of Dennis Novak on Tuesday in Cagliari.

Since capturing his first-ever ATP title at a Melbourne 250 in February, Evans has hit a snag. The 32nd-ranked Brit is 1-4 in his last five matches, so he has little momentum heading into his first clay-court appearance since last year–when he went 0-3 on the surface. In fact, Evans has not won an ATP main-draw match on clay since 2017 in Barcelona. He really isn’t entirely hopeless on the red stuff so this may be somewhat competitive, but Musetti is an obvious favorite.

Pick: Musetti in 3

Gilles Simon vs. (3) Lorenzo Sonego

After Simon fell to 1-3 on the season following a first-round exit in Montpellier, he announced that he was not enjoying playing in the current coronavirus conditions and would take a break. Five weeks later, the 36-year-old Frenchman is back in action in Cagliari. It took him a set to get going, but he managed to overcome Stefano Travaglia 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Tuesday.

That is a solid result for Simon, but there is still no reason to be encouraged about his chances for more success this week on his least favorite surface. And a second-round date with Sonego certainly isn’t an easy task. The 34th-ranked Italian has picked up six ATP-level wins this year, including two at the recent Miami Masters. Sonego may not be at his very best on clay, but he is superior so Simon on this surface and should be able to maintain his fine form.

Pick: Sonego in 3