The ATP Tour heads back to Sardinia this week, albeit to a different venue than last year.
Still, that’s not going to put me off backing defending champion LASLO DJERE at 10/1.
The Serb is in the top quarter of the draw where top seed Dan Evans looks eminently opposable, as does his fellow seed John Millman – both are much better on faster surfaces than the Cagliari clay.
Importantly, Djere has already set foot on the red dirt this year, reaching quarter-finals in both Buenos Aires and Santiago during the South American swing.
This is his terrain, as further evidenced by semi-final appearances in Kitzbhuel and Cordoba last season. And as well as his win here, he also enjoyed title success in Rio in 2019.
This section actually includes the title favourite, home hope Lorenzo Musetti.
The Italian burst onto the scene towards the end of last year, beating both Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori at the Rome Masters. He went on to make the semis here, losing to Djere after struggling with injury.
The 19-year-old is certainly a talent but I feel too much weight has been placed on his semi-final run in Acapulco recently where he defeated both Diego Schwartzman and Frances Tiafoe and 5/1 is short enough.
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