Rotterdam R1 previews and predictions: Fognini vs. Khachanov, Rublev vs. Basilashvili

Russians Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev will kick off their Rotterdam campaigns on Tuesday. They have intriguing first-round matchups on their hands against Fabio Fognini and Nikoloz Basilashvili, respectively.

Karen Khachanov vs. (5) Fabio Fognini

Fognini and Khachanov will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers and for the third time in four months when they meet again in round one of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament on Tuesday. They split a pair of encounters during the Asian swing this past fall; Khachanov prevailed 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 in Beijing before Fognini exacted revenge immediately thereafter at the Shanghai Masters via a 6-3, 7-5 decision.

This should be a good one, with both men in stellar form to begin 2020. Fognini is coming off a fourth-round performance at the Australian Open. Khachanov went 4-1 at the ATP Cup while leading Russia to the semifinals and then played two absolute thrillers in Melbourne (second round: d. Mikael Ymer 10-8 in a fifth-set tiebreaker; third round: l. to Nick Kyrgios 10-8 in a fifth-set tiebreaker). The world No. 17 is far more reliable than Fognini from a mental standpoint and may have an edge if this turns out to be the extremely competitive contest that it looks like on paper.

Pick: Khachanov in 3

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Nikoloz Basilashvili vs. (8) Andrey Rublev

Rublev has been one of the best players on tour in the early stages of this 2020 campaign. The 22-year-old Russian is up to a career-high ranking of No. 15 thanks to back-to-back titles in Doha and Adelaide followed by a fourth-round finish at the Aussie Open. That leaves his season record at an incredible 11-1.

Up first for Rublev in Rotterdam is a third career contest against Basilashvili, who leads the head-to-head series 2-1 (1-1 on hard courts). They most recently faced each other last summer in Cincinnati, where Rublev got the job done 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-2. Dating back to that loss, Basilashvili is just 8-10 in the span of 18 matches (2-3 this season). The 28th-ranked Georgian went 1-2 at the ATP Cup and lost to Fernando Verdasco during second-round action in Melbourne. Based on current form, Rublev should take this one without too much trouble.

Pick: Rublev in 2

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