Damien Kayat previews the ATP Tour’s German Open Round of 32 taking place on Tuesday 23 July.
German Open Hamburg | Am Rothenbaum, Hamburg, Germany, Clay Surface
Fabio Fognini 3/10 | Julian Lenz 9/4
32-year-old veteran Fabio Fognini has long since been a clay-court aficionado with sporadic success on tour. But the hard-working Italian has managed to find an added level of consistency in his game over the last 18 months, reaching four finals on the ATP Tour last year. He won three of those events, two of which came on clay. Though he may not have the same ludicrous finals count this season, he more than made up for it with that scintillating performance in Monte Carlo. He won his maiden Masters 1000 title in resounding fashion, accounting for Rafael Nadal en route to a surprise title. That result stands out in a season of near-misses for the Italian. He lost a pulsating 4th round match against Alex Zverev at Roland Garros. But these are exactly the sort of events that Fognini relishes and he will go into this as the massive favourite.
Julian Lenz will look to draw some inspiration from a passionate home crowd as he actually makes his main draw debut on the ATP Tour. The 26-year-old went down the American College route, honing his craft at Baylor University. He has since plied his trade on both the ITF and Challenger tour. So the German has taken a rather circuitous route to the big time. He won the 2011 US Open boy’s doubles title. Looking at his futures career, it’s quite encouraging to see that seven of his eight finals thus far have been played on clay: he won an ITF event in Germany earlier this year. You would have to say that he has drawn the short straw by encountering a top 10 player in his first-ever match on the PGA Tour.
It’s unsurprising to discover that this will be the first time these two would have met. Despite home advantage, you have to fancy the Italian to get the job done. 17/20 to win in straight sets is quite reasonable when you consider that this will be Lenz’s main draw debut on the ATP Tour.
Laslo Dere 21/20 | Filip Krajinovic 7/10
This is an all-Serbian encounter in the wake of yet more Djokovic dominance at Wimbledon. Filip Krajinovic is a real talent who hasn’t quite lived up to the billing of 2017. He memorably reached the final of the Paris Masters that season, ultimately losing to fellow surprise package Jack Sock. Krajinovic endured a miserable 2018 but has shown some decent signs of life this season. He won a Challenger event leading up to the French Open, where he lost to Tsitsipas in a tight third-round match. He reached an ATP Final in Hungary while he beat the likes of Medvedev and Goffin at Indian Wells. He also reached a Challenger final in Sophia Antipolis.
Laslo Dere has emerged as a future star of Serbian tennis. Of Hungarian descent, Dere has actually forged an excellent season for himself this year. His season came to life with a wonderful South American clay-court swing. He beat Dominic Thiem en route to claiming his maiden ATP title in Rio. He followed that up with a semi-final showing in Sao Paulo. He then took that form into Europe with yet another semi-final in his native Hungary. He put on a decent show in Paris, furthering his reputation as a burgeoning clay-court threat. He ultimately lost to the resurgent Kei Nishikori in an epic five-set tussle in the 3rd round.
Considering they are compatriots, it is not surprising to discover they have a fairly rich head-to-head record. It currently sits at 2-2, with their last match at the Grand Prix Hassan event cancelled. Dere is clearly the more vogue option looking at current form. Krajinovic is generally more of a hard-court specialist. But there is enough to suggest to me that Krajinovic could draw on his experience and overcome his fellow countryman. That final in Hungary plus that performance against Tsitsispas in Paris gives me faith to back him at 7/10.
