We take a look at the ATP World Tour 250’s Murray River Open matches between Egor Gerasimov and Marton Fucsovics as well as Daniel Evans against Pedro Sousa.
Photo Copyright – Steve Haag Sports
ATP 250 Series
Murray River Open
Melbourne Park
Egor Gerasimov(15/10) vs
Marton Fucsovics (16) (51/100)
The tennis world converges on Melbourne during an unprecedented period of condensed tennis action. The ATP and WTA Tour have organized a smorgasbord of tournaments leading up to next week’s open. 28-year-old Belarusian Egor Gerasimov has always been a hardcourt specialist. He reached his first ever ATP Final at last year’s Maharashtra Open. The rest of the disrupted campaign saw him pick up some middling results: he reached the quarterfinals of the Open 13 and Astana Open. One look at his ITF record tells you everything you need to know about his hardcourt acumen. 17 of his 19 ITF finals have come on hard surfaces. He uses his impressive height to control on serve while he hits bullets from the baseline. His career win loss record on the ATP Tour reads 38-22 (including Grand Slams and Davis Cup). This illustrates his consistency without managing to break thorough at the highest level. Perhaps this protracted time in Melbourne will boost his career trajectory. He is coming off a straight sets victory over Llyod Harris and will feel quietly confident.
Fucsovics is yet another player with an illustrious junior history: he is a former ITF junior number 1. Marton Fucsovics is a steady player who seems to be proficient on all courts. His best success however has come on clay. He won the 2018 Geneva Open and reached last year’s French Open 4th round. But he also reached the final of the 2019 Sofia Open (an event played on hard surfaces). Perhaps it’s fair to say that Melbourne Park may suit him this year. It has developed a reputation in recent years for having a slightly spongy surface, with some bounces more characteristic to clay surfaces. 2020 was really a nothing campaign for Fucsovics outside of some decent late-season Grand Slam appearances: his 4th round run at Roland Garros included a shock opening round victory over Danil Medvedev. The Hungarian will be looking to rediscover some of his 2018-2019 form ahead of the 2021 season. His opening round victory over Cecchinato bodes well.
Fucsovics leads the head-to-head with Gerasimov 3-1. Having said that, Fucsovics’ last victory was a tightly contested three-set affair on the Doha hardcourts. Fucsovics seems to have dropped off somewhat over the last season. But I think he will fancy himself on these surfaces. I think Fucsovics will have what it takes to win in straight sets at 5/4.
Daniel Evans (8) (1/7) vs
Pedro Sousa (46/10)
I very much view Daniel Evans in the mould of David Ferrer (though clearly not as successful). He is an excellent defensive player with the ability to cover a lot of court. He doesn’t possess huge weapons, but his recent form has been hugely encouraging. Let’s not forget that this is a man who had to overcome a positive cocaine test in 2017. But 2019 saw him reach the final of the Delray Beach Classic. He once again showed his love of hardcourts in last year’s Covid-affected season. He stunned 7th seed Andrey Rublev in the Dubai quarterfinals. He would ultimately have to settle for a semi-final showing. He also picked up two further semi-final appearances in the post-lockdown events (Antwerp and Vienna). Evans is clearly a man in decent form. Furthermore, his best Grand Slam result came in the 2017 Aussie Open (he went on to reach the 4th round). Evans could be an interesting dark horse this week.
His opponent in the next round wasted little time in dispatching of home-favourite Li Tu in the first round. 32-year-old Pedro Sousa is your typical clay-court journeyman. The Portuguese has struggled to break through from the Futures and Challenger Circuits. He just doesn’t possess the weapons necessary to retain relevance in the upper echelons. Having said that, 2020 was actually quite a decent year for Sousa. He reached his first ATP Final on the clay courts of Argentine (he lost). He was also quite prolific on the Challenger Tour: he actually won an event as recently as December. But what chance does he have on this surface? Let’s put it this way: of the 34 finals he has played on both the Future and Challenger Tour, 30 of them have been on clay courts.
This will be the first meeting between these two. I just can’t see any path to victory for the Portuguese. Evans has been extremely consistent on the tour proper while Sousa has struggled. Despite that, it may be worth it to opt for Evans in 3 at 29/10. There’s some value in that. Evans can be erratic and you can expect Sousa to at least put in a disciplined showing.
