Marco Cecchinato vs Lorenzo Sonego Prediction & Betting Tips - Umag, Croatia

Prediction published on 27/07/2023, 04:38  by Joseph King | Modified on 27/07/2023 at 07:00 in Tennis Predictions

The ATP Croatia Open at Umag enters the round of 16 with an all-Italian clash between Marco Cecchinato and second-seeded Lorenzo Sonego. Cecchinato comes into this matchup off the back of a 2-1 win over 93rd-ranked Alexander Shevchenko in the round of 32 on Wednesday. The victory was a much-needed result for the 30-year-old and put an end to a previous seven match losing streak. It’s the first time that Cecchinato has made it out of the first round since May of 2023 where the current ATP 96th-ranked player beat Ben Shelton in the Geneva Open. Cecchinato, who achieved his highest ever ranking of 16th in 2021, is a clay specialist with the majority of his career bouts taking place on this surface. Of the 829 career games he has on his record, 694 of them have been played on clay. With ATP Umag a clay event, Cecchinato will be optimistic of advancing to the quarter-final despite coming into this clash as a sizable underdog.

The 28-year-old Lorenzo Sonego will be desperate for a victory as he comes into this meeting on a run of four straight defeats. His most recent outing resulted in a 2-1 defeat to Albert Ramos-Vinolas at the Swiss open seven days ago, an event also played on a clay surface. Sonego started 2023 strongly by taking down the Moselle Open back in January, defeating Alexander Bublik in straight sets in the final. Since then, however, it’s been a struggle for the 46th-ranked Italian. He made quarter-final appearances in Montpellier and later in Dubai, losing to Sinner and Zverev, respectively. On clay, Sonego won seven of his 13 matches so far this year with his best finish coming at Roland Garros where he made the fourth round. Sonego, who has only once finished a calendar year with a losing record (back in 2013) is currently below .500 with 17 wins from his 36 total matches.