Gijs Brouwer vs Mark Lajal Saint-Tropez Open Expert Tip: Young Lajal Capable of Surprising Brouwer

Gijs Brouwer vs Mark Lajal (Saint-Tropez Open): Thursday, September 21st

Outside of the fact that he nearly gave away a 4-0 lead in the opening set, it was lovely stuff from Dalibor Svrcina, who ended up covering both handicaps to bring home some nice profit from Wednesday’s tip from our men’s preview.

With the main tour still in an incredibly tough time zone, we’ll stick with the ATP Challenger Tour for our Thursday writeup and head back to the Saint-Tropez Open and preview a match with a familiar name. Let’s delve into Gijs Brouwer vs Mark Lajal.

For more daily tennis tips, visit the bettingexpert community, but if you want more expert tips from Jon Reid, visit our Expert Insights section.

In this article:

• Gijs Brouwer vs Mark Lajal Expert Tip
• Gijs Brouwer Recent Form
• Mark Lajal Recent Form
• Gijs Brouwer vs Mark Lajal H2H Stat of the Match
• Gamble Responsibly

Gijs Brouwer vs Mark Lajal Expert Tip

If there’s anything that proves (in my mind, at least) that the tennis betting markets are far from efficient, it’s that Brouwer has gone from barely being a favourite against a one-dimensional and barely-Challenger calibre Mathias Bourgue to being a more sizable favourite against one of the better young hard-court talents we have at this level.

To get Lajal at a cheaper price than Bourgue within the span of a few days, against the same opponent is positively wild to me and I’m happy to take that price.

From Brouwer being undervalued one match to overvalued in the very next contest. Life moves fast.

• Expert Tip: Lajal to win at 2.10 with Bet365, using 2/10 stakes.

Odds as at 12:00 am UK Time on September 21st, 2023. Odds may now differ.

Read on for more expert insights.

Gijs Brouwer Recent Form

We went over the struggles of Brouwer earlier this week, but also laid out how many of them came against some better players that anyone at this level would probably struggle against.

That said, much of our support for betting him was based on a one-dimensional game of an ageing player who struggles to really maintain relevance at this level.

This time around, he’s playing a much more mobile – and much younger – opponent that is on the ascent and has proven himself a few times on the Challenger Tour this season.

That added athleticism should give Brouwer a bit more trouble when it comes to holding serve and should also reduce the effectiveness of him being able to hit his lefty forehand efficiently to all parts of the court.

Mark Lajal Recent Form

As for Lajal, the 20-year-old from Estonia has really proven he’s ready to make runs in Challenger events on hard courts in 2023. We saw him qualify and reach the quarters in France indoors, qualify again and then make it to the semifinals in Morelos, Mexico and then finally win one in Little Rock.

His path to the second round in Saint-Tropez has followed a very similar path, with the need to qualify, followed by a relatively straightforward opening round victory in the main draw.

Lajal comes from a country known more for success on hard courts and has a big serve and forehand combination, which means the conditions on hard courts in France should suit him just fine.

If his backhand can hold up and he doesn’t melt down confidence-wise as he did at the U.S. Open against Filip Mosilic, he should manage to come through here.

Those two concerns are justified ones, and that’s the primary reasoning for a relatively small staking on this one.

Gijs Brouwer vs Mark Lajal H2H – Stat of the Match

No previous meeting between these two (not surprising with Lajal really just reaching this level during the 2023 season, which has seen Brouwer playing plenty at the main tour level).

It does have the potential to be a fun one though. With one righty and one southpaw and both equipped with strong serves and forehands, it really could come down to whose backhand holds up best in crosscourt exchanges when they’re being bombarded with forehands from the opposition.

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