Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports/Sipa USA

Dusan Lajovic vs Ugo Humbert: ATP Barcelona – Second round

Two players in their prime will face each other in the second round of the ATP Barcelona.

Dusan Lajovic Profile

Dusan Lajovic is 59th in the ATP rankings, and his career high was No. 23 in the world. The Serbian is 8-9 for the season and 5-3 on clay courts.

Lajovic is coming off a confident 6-1, 6-2 win over Diego Schwartzman in the opening round in Barcelona. That was his first win after three consecutive losses. Lajovic failed to qualify for the main draw in Monte Carlo, losing to Alexandre Muller. The week before, he lost to Gael Monfils in the opening round in Miami after failing to defeat Frances Tiafoe in the second round in Indian Wells.

Lajovic played quite well on clay on the South American tour, making it to the quarterfinals in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro.

This is Lajovic’s second appearance in Barcelona after 2018.

Ugo Humbert Profile

Ugo Humbert has the best ranking of his career, being No. 13 in the world. The Frenchman is 18-6 for the season and 3-1 on clay courts.

He is coming off a 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 quarterfinal loss to Casper Ruud in Monte Carlo. Previously in the tournament, Humbert defeated Lorenzo Sonego, Zhizhen Zhang, and Federico Coria.

He had no significant success on the North American tour, losing his second match in Miami at Indian Wells.

Humbert had an excellent start to the season, as he had already won two titles. In Dubai, he defeated Alexander Bublik in the final, and in Marseille, he was better than Grigor Dimitrov.

This is Humbert’s second appearance in Barcelona after he made it to the second round in 2022.

Head-to-Head – Humbert leads 1-0

• Humbert vs Lajovic 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 (2023 ATP Monte Carlo, qualifiers)

Prediction and Conclusion

Ugo Humbert is playing the best tennis of his career, which has brought him the highest career ranking and two titles so far in the season. Humbert is the type of player who can adapt to any surface and can transfer his game well to clay. Lajovic is one of those players who has had many ups and downs during the season, and judged by what we saw in the opening round in Barcelona, the Serbian is ready for a fight. However, Humbert’s confidence and form are on another level, and even though Lajovic will be able to hold on to a certain point, the Frenchman is the one who will advance to the next round.