Andrey Rublev kicks off his Vienna bid against Australian Alexei Popyrin on Tuesday, while a red-hot Grigor Dimitrov takes on Lorenzo Musetti. Rublev is on the verge of clinching a place in the Nitto ATP Finals.
(3) Andrey Rublev vs. Alexei Popyrin
Shanghai finalist Andrey Rublev will play his first-ever match against Alexei Popyrin on Tuesday at the Erste Bank Open. Despite only two titles in 2023, the Russian has had a good year. He is ranked a career-high No. 5 in the world and he captured his maiden Masters 1000 title in Monte-Carlo this spring. Rublev had a strong run in Shanghai a couple weeks ago, with a runner-up result–coming up short in the final against Hubert Hurkacz.
Popyrin is also sitting at a career high thanks in part to his second career title in Umag this summer. The world No. 39 had a couple wins in Tokyo last week, but he fell to Japanese wild card Shintaro Mochizuki–who went on a tear and made his way all the way to the semifinals in front of the home crowd.
Rublev has had time to rest after his run in Shanghai and should not be fighting much in the way of fatigue this early in the tournament. The third seed is by far the more consistent player. Look for him to advance without much difficulty.
Cheryl pick: Rublev in 2
Ricky pick: Rublev in 2
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Grigor Dimitrov vs. Lorenzo Musetti
This might be the most compelling match of the entire Vienna first round. Dimitrov, who is on-again off-again with his level, is currently on. He’s so “on,” in fact, that he posted one of his more impressive wins of the season over Carlos Alcaraz in round of 16 at the Shanghai Masters. The Bulgarian came up short against Rublev in the semis, but the result has Dimitrov’s ranking up to No. 17 in the world.
Dimitrov lost his only previous match against Tuesday opponent Lorenzo Musetti. The two men met on the hard courts of Acapulco back in 2021, but given Dimitrov’s inconsistency at times it’s hard to draw any kind of conclusion on the state of the matchup based on that result.
Musetti had a good start to the autumn Asian swing with a semifinal showing in Chengdu, but his form fell off and he only managed to win one match between Beijing and Shanghai. The Italian has historically been more successful on clay than on hard courts. Both the surface and current form favor Dimitrov. Musetti might keep one of the sets close, but this one should go to the veteran.
Cheryl pick: Dimitrov in 2
Ricky pick: Dimitrov in 2
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