Antalya Open 2021: Alexander Bublik vs Tristan Lamasine preview, head-to-head & prediction
Match details
Fixture: Alexander Bublik vs Tristan Lamasine
Date: 10 January 2021
Tournament: Antalya Open 2021
Round: Second round (Round of 16)
Venue: Antalya, Turkey
Category: ATP 250
Surface: Outdoor Hardcourt
Prize money: €300,000
Match timing: 11 am local time, 1.30 pm IST
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel
Alexander Bublik vs Tristan Lamasine preview
Alexander Bublik, the eighth seed at Antalya Open 2021, has returned to the tour for the first time since his first-round exit at the Paris Masters last November. Bublik got off to a solid start in Antalya, beating Italy's Salvatore Caruso in straight sets in the first round.
The Russian looked in great touch throughout, winning 6-3, 6-3 without conceding a single break point.
Bublik has won a singles title in Antalya before, but it was at the Futures level in 2015. The last tournament where he made it past the second round in the singles arena was at the German Open in September 2020.
World No. 271 Tristan Lamasine meanwhile had a trickier opening round fixture. He took on Belarusia's Egor Gerasimov on Friday, eventually coming up trumps 7-6(6), 6-2 in a hard-fought battle.
Lamasine was broken twice in the first set, but fought back brilliantly to knock out the World No. 78.
The Frenchman has one Challenger and two Future singles titles to his name, the first of which came on a hardcourt. He would be hoping to put together a strong run this week and climb up the rankings ladder.
Alexander Bublik vs Tristan Lamasine head-to-head
Alexander Bublik and Tristan Lamasine have not faced off on tour before. Their head-to-head is currently tied at 0-0.
Alexander Bublik vs Tristan Lamasine prediction
An thoroughly unpredictable character, Alexander Bublik can throw his opponents off with his eccentric style of play. But he also has plenty of firepower up his sleeve; Bublik slapped eight aces past Caruso and won 79% of his first-serve points to take complete control of the match.
One of Bublik's two ATP singles finals has come on a hardcourt, and he would be itching to do the same this week in Antalya.
Tristan Lamasine on his part notched up an impressive win against a top-100 opponent in the opening round, but the Bublik challenge promises to be considerably tougher. The Russian looks in great touch at the moment, and might just have too much game for Lamasine at this point.
Prediction: Alexander Bublik to win in straight sets.