Much of the ATP Tour returns to European clay after Wimbledon, with Monday’s Umag line-up featuring two players from the Czech Republic. Jakub Mensik takes on Alexei Popyrin, while Tomas Machac takes on Brazilian Thiago Monteiro.

Jakub Mensik vs. Alexei Popyrin

Czech Jakub Mensik had his first breakthrough tournament earlier this season in Doha. The 18-year-old came from nowhere to reach the final, with surprise wins over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Andy Murray and Andrey Rublev before ultimately falling to champion Karen Khachanov. His season since has been slightly less successful and he is currently down from his career-high ranking of 65 to world No. 79. Still, Mensik has all the right ingredients for success, he just needs a bit more consistency to execute his plan.

Alexei Popyrin will likely go into this match with confidence. The Aussie reached the third round of Wimbledon and put finalist Novak Djokovic under pressure before going down in four sets. The problem is that he has been absolutely miserable on clay this year. The 24-year-old is 2-5 on clay in 2024, both times at the Monte-Carlo Masters. He has lost in the opener of his other four events.

Expect Mensik to take advantage of Popyrin’s current struggles on clay to win this first ever meeting with Popyrin.

Cheryl pick – Mensik in 2

(7) Tomas Machac vs. Thiago Monteiro

Mensik’s Czech compatriot Tomas Machac has had a breakthrough season this year. He had an impressive run to the quarter-finals at the Miami Masters and then reached the final in Geneva, where he eventually lost to Casper Ruud. He notably defeated Novak Djokovic in his run to the Geneva final. He is 19-11 this season and has played well on clay so far.

Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro is a tough opponent in the first round. He is ranked 85th in the world and struggles on surfaces other than clay, but he is a good clay player and could give Machac trouble on Monday. The two men have never played against each other before, but Monteiro has had some good results on dirt. Notably, after successfully qualifying for the Rome Masters, he reached the round of 16, where he lost to Zhizhen Zhang.

Expect this to be an entertaining fight. Machac is more consistent with better weapons, so he should come through, but not without problems.

Cheryl Chooses – Machac in 3