ATP tournament in Marseille, 1st round, Wednesday, 07.02.2024
Tournament start for Felix Auger-Aliassime in Marseille. He got off to a good start in the south of France last week, reaching the semi-finals in Montpellier. A little further east, he now takes on Quentin Halys on Wednesday, who is going through a minor tennis crisis.
The best bookmakers agree that it should be a must-win for the Canadian. I can only agree with this and therefore select the smooth 2:0 success of the 28 of the world. Interwetten is still offering strong odds of 1.80.
He was one of the core top 10 players and all the experts thought it was only a matter of time before Auger-Aliassime bagged his first Grand Slam. However, the 23-year-old is currently only chasing his best form.
Various injuries have set him back and he has lacked consistency on the court ever since. Things have at least been on the up since the tournament victory in Basel last year, and Auger-Aliassime made some progress in the fall, having already reached the quarter-finals in Tokyo.
At the Australian Open, after a first round battle against Dominic Thiem over five sets, he made it at least as far as round three before the eventual finalist Daniil Medvedev maneuvered him out of the tournament.
“I wish I’d had more to offer, but now I can only focus on improving for next year,” was “FAA’s” battle message on Instagram.
In the semi-finals in Montpellier, he immediately stepped up his game, beating Arthur Cazaux and Harold Mayot before he was slowed down by Alexander Bublik after leading the set, who ultimately took the title on Sunday.
Auger-Aliassime now also has a French opponent in Marseille, Quentin Halys, who achieved his highest ranking in the world at a similar time last year but has since dropped out of the top 100.
From August onwards, not much went right for the 27-year-old. Three wins from 13 matches, a miserable record that makes Auger-Aliassime the favorite (1.25 odds). Interwetten assigns the Frenchman odds of 3.60.
If you want to bet on the Canadian, you can make a significantly higher profit with the smooth 2:0 victory, for which Interwetten is already serving up 1.80 odds, definitely the best selection for the first round match. The Interwetten app is also practical for on the go, with a good overview and fast loading times.
In Melbourne, Halys at least made it through the first round after beating South African Lloyd Harris, but then lost his service games in a row against Sebastian Korda, losing in three sets.
He then moved on to the Davis Cup, where he was the clear favorite against Chun Hsin Tseng, defeating his opponent, who is ranked above 300, in two sets, but had to take a detour via the tiebreak in the second set
A lot also depends on his first serve percentage against Auger-Aliassime. This has fluctuated significantly recently. The former 61st player in the world is extremely vulnerable on serve number two. Korda took two thirds of all points from him in Melbourne.
And the Canadian also belongs to the “strong return player” category. Halys will now face him for the first time, a duel between two players who will be competing on their favorite surface. Auger-Aliassime can look back on a 68 percent win rate in the hall and Halys on 58.
In any case, we sports betting experts will have to serve up the next ace in tennis. My colleague Isabella Loessl and I already had a strong hit rate at the Australian Open, and four of our five tips came through in Montpellier.
My Auger-Aliassime Halys tip
Halys is in a tennis crisis, winning only three of his last 13 matches. Much of his match depends on his first serve percentage, especially on the fast hard court conditions. But in some cases he remained below 60 percent!
Either way, I think Auger-Aliassime is currently at a stronger level, who occasionally stumbles in the service game, but has much more to offer in the return game and should get many more break chances.
What’s more, his form has definitely been on the up since the tournament win in Basel, so I’m expecting a smooth 2:0 win for the former sixth player in the world in the opening match in Marseille, and I’m going for the Interwetten odds.
My Auger-Aliassime Halys tip: 2:0 for Auger-Aliassime
