Luciano Darderi vs Duje Ajdukovic Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Umag Open

Prediction published on 22/07/2024, 04:54  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 22/07/2024 at 06:06 in Tennis Predictions

Luciano Darderi is the fifth seed for the Croatia Open in Umag. He has to start from round one and takes on unseeded Duje Ajdukovic for a place in the last 16 of this clay court tournament. The winner faces either Jakub Mensik or Alexei Popyrin, both of whom are unseeded.

Darderi begins this tournament ranked 33rd in the world which is a career-high for the Italian.  That's earned him a place in Italy's team for the men's singles at the Paris Olympics. That's being played on clay so he'll want another good performance this week.

The 22-year-old reached the quarter-finals in Hamburg last week, losing to Sebastian Baez after winning the first set. Before that on clay, Darderi has won a Challenger Tour event and made it to the last eight in Lyon, both in May. He also got to the semi-finals in Houston.

Duje Ajdukovic is the world number 110 and that's a career-high for the 23-year-old. The Croatian will relish playing in his own country and is in good form at present. He rose 20 places in the rankings after reaching the last four in Bastad.

He had to win five matches to get that far but didn't beat anyone ranked  above 60th. Ajdukovic eventually lost to Rafael Nadal but did win the first set. His previous tournament had also been on clay and he lost in the last eight of a Challenger Tour event.

That was a big improvement after a run on clay and grass that saw him win just one of his seven matches.. He'd failed to win any main draw clay court matches on the ATP Tour and lost in the qualifying rounds at Roland Garros. We tip Darderi to win in straight sets.