ATP Winston-Salem Tournament, 2nd Round, Tuesday, 08/22/2023
Slowly but surely the preparation for the US Open is turning into the home stretch! So the German players have to get in shape, not all of them are satisfied with their current performances. This also applies to the number 54 in the world.
In Winston-Salem, starting on Tuesday, it is important not to fail prematurely again. Despite clear favorite position at Bet365 I will now reveal in my hemp man J. Cerundolo tip, why I trust the outsider a set!
For Yannick Hanfmann, the year 2023 already held some really strong performances in store, but the 31-year-old must be careful that more and more failures do not slowly creep into his statistics.
Since his semi-final in Mallorca, which took place immediately before Wimbledon, things have not been going so well. In London, he was defeated by Taylor Fritz in five tough sets, but he did receive some praise.
Gstaad, Hamburg, Kitzbühel and most recently Cincinnati, the victories became fewer and fewer. Only twice was won, the one success Hanfmann had to owe even a surrender of his opponent.
Interesting: This was Francisco Cerundolo, the brother of his current opponent in Winston-Salem. When was the last time there was a two-set win, anyway? On June 29, at the successful quarterfinal in Mallorca!
Hanfmann is now baking smaller rolls again, but of course he wants to sell himself as well as possible at the upcoming US Open. For the first time ever, his name can now be found among the participants of Winston-Salem.
After his clear defeat against Mackenzie McDonald in Cincinnati, he knows what he needs to improve, especially his serve has been the problem in recent weeks. Whether his upcoming opponent suits him?
This year he has already met Juan Manuel Cerundolo once, for the first time ever. In the Buenos Aires qualifier, things were very close, with the German eventually grabbing a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
Our betting providers are also of the opinion this time that Hanfmann should prevail in the end, the odds manage to average 1.33 to 3.40 in favor of the German in any case.
Juan Manuel Cerundolo is listed at position 100 in the world rankings and has already played his first match in Winston-Salem. Against Roman Safiullin, he had to go to his limits, prevailed very narrowly.
He won the match 7-6, 3-6, 6-3, also because he could only use two of 14 break opportunities. Is the 21-year-old in good form in general or is he rather running after it?
This question can be answered relatively quickly with a “no”. In April Cerundolo reached the final of a Challenger, since then he has managed to win two matches in a row in a main draw just once!
So it doesn’t seem very likely that he will manage to win on Tuesday. Also because this mentioned semifinal could be won at a Challenger again, which the tournament of Winston-Salem is not.
Last time in Kitzbühel, the Argentinean had survived the qualifying round, but was then narrowly defeated by Arthur Rinderknech. Interesting: One round later, Hanfmann was also eliminated against this opponent, and more clearly.
My Hanfmann J. Cerundolo tip
For Yannick Hanfmann, Winston-Salem is all about finally getting his own hard court form up to speed. The last few tournaments were anything but successful, far too often he was eliminated early.
For two months now, he has not managed to win in two sets. His current opponent, Juan Manuel Cerundolo, is also not in a good mood, but he already took Hanfmann to three sets in 2023. For this reason, my tip is now also:
Hanfmann drops at least one set!
