Dusan Lajovic, Mariano Navone and Pedro Martinez will be among those in first round action at the ATP Rio Open 2025 on Tuesday, February 18. Here’s the preview, predictions and tips for these matches from Rio in Brazil.
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Dusan Lajovic v Damir Dzumhur Preview
Head-to-Head: Their only previous meeting came in 2018 with Lajovic winning that US Open encounter in four sets.
A quarterfinalist at the Rio Open in each of his previous two appearances here, Dusan Lajovic now has a chance to resurrect his flailing season so far.
He had begun the year with a qualifying loss in Brisbane but later came through as a lucky loser and won a round. But he had no such luck in Adelaide where Adam Walton sent him packing in the qualifiers before Miomir Kecmanovic defeated him in the first round of the Australian Open.
Lajovic did pull off an upset win over Roberto Carballes Baena in Argentina Open’s first round but was found to be no match for Alexander Zverev.
He has a good chance to get past the first hurdle here at the very least as he takes on Damir Dzumhur who is coming off an opening exit at the Argentina Open.
Dzumhur looked like he was on the verge of his first main draw win for the season when he grabbed the opening set 6-0 against Pedro Martinez but slowly and surely, tapered away.
The last time that Dzumhur won a round at this level was in April 2023 – nearly two years ago. Lajovic will be looking to not allow that to change.
Lajovic v Dzumhur prediction: Lajovic to win: 9/20
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Mariano Navone v Roberto Carballes Baena Preview
Head-to-Head: Their only previous meeting came in Cordoba in 2024 and Carballes Baena had won that.
Mariano Navone has been in the top 30 of the rankings in the past but has fallen to 46th at the moment and that will be the one thing he would like to change.
Playing in the Argentina Open last week after finishing the Australian leg of the tour with a 1-3 record, Navone overcame Francisco Comesana in the first round before shocking Holger Rune in the second.
And facing the eventual champion Joao Fonseca, Navone managed to take a set off him before his opponent came into his own and clinched the match.
Still that was the kind of performance that would have given him a lot of confidence as he takes on a tricky opponent first up here.
Roberto Carballes Baena is ranked 53rd in the world and once known for his solidity on clay, he is much improved in hardcourt competitions too. That was on show this season when he made the third round at the Australian Open and a quarterfinals in Auckland.
Unfortunately for Carballes Baena that did not translate too well for him when he took to court for his maiden clay court encounter for the season. He was beaten in straight sets by Dusan Lajovic in Argentina last week.
Expecting a keen tussle here with a third set a chance.
Navone v Carballes Baena prediction: Three sets in the match: 6/5
Pedro Martinez v Ugo Carabelli Preview
Head-to-Head: Their only previous meeting came on the Challenger circuit in 2021 and Ugo Carbelli had won that encounter.
Pedro Martinez climbed up to 37th in the world coming into this week and that is his best ever ranking.
The Spaniard, who had ended the Australian Open swing with a 2-3 win-loss record, then made the quarterfinals of the Rotterdam Open where it took Carlos Alcaraz to end his journey.
He went one better in Buenos Aires. Aided by Lorenzo Musetti’s withdrawal from their quarterfinal, Martinez was finally knocked out by Francisco Cerundolo there.
Facing Ugo Carabelli, Martinez will start a favourite here at 11/20 but could face a stiff battle.
Carabelli had won the Challenger title in Rosario and while he was done in by Sebastian Baez in the Argentina Open opener and lost in the qualifiers here, he has the game on clay to test some of these other top 50 players.
Martinez v Carabelli prediction: Over 20.5 games in the match: 4/6
