The top two seeds will be in action in Hamburg on Thursday, as Andrey Rublev will take on German Daniel Altmaier after surviving a scare in his opener. No. 1 seed Casper Ruud will go up against Cristian Garin.
(2) Andrey Rublev vs. Daniel Altmaier
Russia’s Andrey Rublev finally won his first Masters title in Monte-Carlo earlier this season, but the clay season ended up being a mixed bag for the world No. 7–who was knocked out of the French Open in the third round at the hands of Lorenzo Sonego. He comes into Hamburg off a title run in Bastad, where he defeated Casper Ruud.
Rublev was forced to fight off a trio of match points in the the third-set tiebreaker in his first-round match against Bernabe Zapata Miralles in his opener this week. His Thursday opponent, world No. 61 Daniel Altmaier, took a second-round loss in Gstaad last week. The German defeated French veteran Richard Gasquet in the Hamburg first round.
Fatigue may eventually be a factor for Rublev, but he should have enough in the tank for this one.
Cheryl pick: Rublev in 2
Ricky pick: Rublev in 2
(1) Casper Ruud vs. Cristian Garin
World No. 120 Cristian Garin has proven to be an unexpectedly difficult matchup for Casper Ruud. The Norwegian world No. 4 has beaten Garin just once in four tries. Their most recent meeting came this spring on the hard courts of Indian Wells, where Garin scored a big upset in straight sets.
Ruud had a rough start to the 2023 season but has come on lately. He defended his Roland Garros finalist points and made the final last week in Bastad. Ruud had a strange first-round match against Sebastian Baez, in which he dropped the second set 6-1 but was tidy in sets one and three.
Despite what seems to be a bit of a matchup issue with Garin, the Chilean isn’t in good form right now. Expect Ruud to get through this one and into the quarterfinals.
Cheryl pick: Ruud in 3
Ricky pick: Ruud in 2
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