ATP Tournament in Kitzbühel, 1st Round, Monday, 31.07.2023
The red sand is still with us for a while! On the ATP Tour, we will now encounter another tournament, which will be played in Kitzbühel in the coming days. The German players want to make a positive impression here once again.
Especially one who has already surprised several times this year. In his 1st round against a Swiss player, he is the clear favourite of Bet365, which is why I now reveal in my Huesler Altmaier tip, which also brings me to a smooth success!
Many great opponents defeated, climbed in the world ranking, gave the German fans a lot of fun – and it is far from over with this tennis season 2023! Daniel Altmaier has more than convinced many this year.
His five-set victory over Jannik Sinner at the French Open, for example, is unforgettable, and he also reached the quarter-finals in a major Masters before that. Problems on clay? None!
Since Wimbledon is over and people are hitting on the red clay again, the results have become a little more changeable, but an elimination right at the beginning of a tournament is extremely rare.
In Hamburg, Altmaier first caused a sensation, but then also a bitter disappointment. He won 6-2, 6-2 against Andrey Rublev, it was one of the biggest victories of his career!
Not a break surrendered, 85% points won on the first serve, Altmaier served like a great. When the quarter-final against Zhizhen Zhang was on the agenda, he wanted to continue seamlessly.
Unfortunately, he did not succeed, he lost 4-6, 4-6. The 24-year-old missed the round of the best four, but after the tournament on the Elbe, he was not dissatisfied with performances such as results.
“I have to accept that my opponent was better today. I will continue to work on my consistency. But that is also a matter of experience.” This year’s results have of course been reflected in the world rankings.
In the ranking, which has not yet been updated, he will crack the top 50, he has never appeared so far in front! It is clear that he now also wants to convince in Kitzbühel. He only competed here once, two years ago, and promptly made it to the semi-finals.
Curious: He failed against Pedro Martinez, the opponent who was ranked lowest of all five. Now he starts the tournament against Marc-Andrea Huesler, against whom he had already played at this French Open.
6-3, 6-4, 6-4, that was clear. In 2021, there was also a clash in the qualifiers in Geneva, where the German won outright. So it’s no wonder that our betting providers expect clear conditions on Monday as well.
Odds of 1.35 to 3.15 are called, so Huesler is clearly to be found in the role of the underdog. The Swiss had an incredibly bitter 7-6, 7-5, 6-7, 6-7, 3-6 loss to Yosuke Watanuki in Round 1 at Wimbledon before returning to clay.
In Gstaad as well as in Umag, he was not able to achieve the results he had envisaged. First a 3-6, 5-7 against Jurij Rodionov, then a 4-6, 2-6 against Federico Coria, that was nothing.
Huesler, who serves with his left hand, tops Altmaier in terms of height (1.96 to 1.88), but his form this year speaks a completely different language. Nevertheless: He too knows that his most recent participation here in Kitzbühel was promising.
Three years ago he reached the semi-finals, losing in three sets to Miomir Kecmanovic. So he has this result in common with Daniel Altmaier.
My Huesler Altmaier Tip
He’s in the top 50 in the world, but he’s not supposed to stop here by a long shot! Daniel Altmaier wants to convince in Kitzbühel, show that the recent, very clear success against Andrey Rublev was no coincidence.
He already clearly put Marc-Andrea Huesler in his place in 2023, in my analysis I could see that the Swiss is in a different, worse shape. Therefore, I opt for the following tip:
Altmaier wins 2:0 against Huesler!
