Carlos Alcaraz cruised in his first-round match at the 2024 Australian Open, so what will happen in the second-round match against Lorenzo Sonego?
The Italian is a very tricky player, but only if he plays his best tennis. Pretty logical, right? Well, it's a bit more nuanced, as he might be one of the streakiest players on the ATP Tour.
On his absolute best day, Sonego is capable of beating anybody, including some of the best, like Novak Djokovic. The problem is that it generally happens once every few months, and it's not likely to happen here against Alcaraz.
We'll likely see him at his usual level, which is a competent Top 50 player but also very beatable. He won't be as easy as Richard Gasquet was, but Alcaraz should generally have the upper hand.
Head-to-head:
Alcaraz and Sonego have played once so far, and Sonego got the win. It happened in 2021 at the Cincinnati Open, and the Italian won in two sets 6-3, 7-6(6). Alcaraz probably remembers that loss well, so expect him to take this matchup seriously.
He'll do it because he knows not to underestimate Sonego because you never know when he'll have his crazy minute. He has a good serve and pretty solid baseline play from both sides.
If they're firing, watch out. Daniel Evans found it out the hard way in the first round. The same can obviously be said for Alcaraz, who blasted 50+ winners in the first round of the event.
| Carlos Alcaraz | Lorenzo Sonego | |
| 0 | H2H | 1 |
| 2 | Rank | 46 |
| 20 | Age | 28 |
| 1-0 | 2024 W/L | 2-3 |
| 156-43 | Career W/L | 125-132 |
Prediction:
The match is obviously on Alcaraz's racquet. He took some time to warm up against Gasquet, but he eventually did. You don't really want to play him into a good rhythm because then you might be in trouble. For the most part, I think he'll handle it fine.
Prediction: Carlos Alcaraz to win in three sets.
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