Aslan Karatsev
The world No. 45 Aslan Karatsev takes on the Czech qualifier Lukas Rosol in the round of 32 of the Stockholm Open on Monday.
The 29-year-old got off to a fine start this season as he won the title in Sydney and followed it up with a run to the third round at the Australian Open. He struggled with form thereafter but produced some fine results at the Open 13, the Swedish Open, and the German Open, where he progressed to the quarterfinals before bowing out.
Karatsev is coming into the tournament on the back of a run to the round of 16 at the Firenze Open. He lost to Mikael Ymer in three sets 1-6, 7-6 (8-6), 1-6.
The 37-year-old has mostly plied his trade in Challenger events and on the ITF circuit this season. He lost in the finals of the ITF event in Egypt and the Challenger event in Istanbul but came up trumps at the ITF event in Switzerland in August.
Rosol won two qualifying matches to make it to the main draw of the Stockholm Open. In the first match, he defeated Cristian Rodriguez with relative ease in straight sets 6-4, 6-3. In the second match, he eased past Nicholas David Ionel in straight sets 6-3, 7-6.
The head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 0-0 as the two players have not faced each other as yet.
Prediction: Aslan Karatsev to win in straight sets.
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