ATP tournament in Halle, 1st round, Wednesday, 21.06.2023
The clock is ticking: Wimbledon is calling! Before the third Grand Slam of the year soon calls, the men continue to test their form, because they have not been on the fast green court for long.
The tournament in Halle is currently underway, and of course the German players are particularly keen to impress. One of them, who recently missed out on a trophy by a hair’s breadth, is only the narrow favourite at Bet365 in his 1st round match in Halle.
Is the defeat in Stuttgart still in his bones or is his opponent not an easy one? I’ll get to the bottom of these questions in my Struff Safiullin tip and reveal why I think the local hero can win the match!
First Stuttgart, now Halle! Before Wimbledon, tennis fans in Germany can look forward to a lot of top-class sport. What was denied to the spectators on the Neckar is now to happen further east.
In Stuttgart, Jan-Lennard Struff played another magnificent tournament this year and reached the final! He played a great match against Frances Tiafoe, but lost in an unbelievably unfortunate way 6-4, 6-7, 6-7.
And that despite the fact that the US American could not break a single time! A bitter disappointment from which one must first recover. But the player from Warstein doesn’t have much time, because he will start into the tournament in Halle on Tuesday.
It’s been seven years since a German champion has been crowned, the last one was Florian Mayer. Interesting: Hubert Hurkacz is the defending champion, and Struff beat him in Stuttgart.
Halle is not one of Struff’s favourite tournaments, as the 33-year-old has never made it past the last 16. Last year, Struff already made the acquaintance of the one he will now meet in Round 1.
He lost to Roman Safiullin in the Basel qualifier 5-7, 1-6, so he should be warned. Do our betting companies know about this result? After all, they are sending Struff into the race with a relatively narrow lead of 1.50 to 2.60.
The Russian knows how to play against Struff, but the previous duel took place on hard court. As number 99 in the world, he is just barely in the top 100 and had to start with that in the qualifying.
There, he first beat Benjamin Bonzi 6-0, 7-5, before prevailing against compatriot Aslan Karatsev 7-6, 6-3. He is already doing a much better job than he did in Stuttgart.
Here, he had lost to Benjamin Hassan right at the beginning of the qualifying, but his two opponents were much more demanding. Safiullin did not play for about a month and also missed the French Open.
In Halle, he is competing for the first time ever, so participation in the main draw is not a success that can be taken for granted.
My Struff Safiullin Tip
It would be desirable for him, but the last step just doesn’t want to be taken (yet)! Jan-Lennard Struff also lost the third ATP final of his career last Sunday, but wants to attack again immediately in Halle.
The fast grass on the Neckar suited him very well, and with Roman Safiullin he gets an opponent who should actually be beatable. I think the German is still feeling the effects of his defeat in the final, but I still have confidence in the world number 21.
Therefore, I bet: Struff wins against Safiullin!
