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Lajovic and Delbonis advance in early Monday action in Belgrade

By Justin Gincauskas

BELGRADE, SERBIA - MAY 24: Dusan Lajovic of Serbia returns a ball during his men's singles first-round match against Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania on Day 2 of the ATP 250 Belgrade Open at Novak Tennis Centre on May 24, 2021 in Belgrade, Serbia. (Photo by Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images)
BELGRADE, SERBIA - MAY 24: Dusan Lajovic of Serbia returns a ball during his men's singles first-round match against Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania on Day 2 of the ATP 250 Belgrade Open at Novak Tennis Centre on May 24, 2021 in Belgrade, Serbia. (Photo by Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images) /
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Dusan Lajovic and Federico Delbonis both advanced to the round of 16 of the Belgrade Open on Monday. Dusan Lajovic defeated Lithuanian Richardas Berankis in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, while Delbonis defeated lucky loser Lukas Klein in three sets 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

It was the third career meeting between Lajovic and Berankis on Monday, as Lajovic now leads the head-to-head 2-1 after losing their first meeting back in 2017.

Where Berankis struggled in the match was on the second serve, winning just 35% of his second serve points, according to Infosys ATP Stats. Lajovic on the other hand was excellent on his second serve, winning 65% of the points. The match could have played out a lot differently had Berankis been able to save any of the break points in the match. Berankis faced four break points on his serve and lost every single one of them. Lajovic actually faced two more break points than Berankis, but was able to save five out of the six in order to stay ahead in the match.

In the match between Delbonis and Klein, it was the world number 254 that jumped ahead early, taking the first set 6-3. Delbonis was on the ropes the entire time, saving a total of 18 break points in the two hour and 20-minute match. Klein has to feel like this was his match, having 19 opportunities to break and only converting that one time in the first set. Delbonis was much better converting on his chances, breaking twice on the six opportunities he had. At the end of the day, Delbonis was just simply better on the key points, and escaped with the victory.

Other results from Belgrade on Monday included Pablo Cuevas defeating the seven seed Miomir Kecmanovic, Jeremy Chardy taking out American Tennys Sandgren, and Fernando Verdasco defeating Lucas Pouille in straight sets.

Next up for Lajovic is the sixth career meeting with Jeremy Chardy, as Lajovic hopes to even up the head-to-head at three a piece. For Delbonis, he will get the 26-year-old Thiago Monteiro in the round of 16.

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