ATP Tournament in Antwerp, Final, Sunday, 20.10.2024, 16:30
Final in Antwerp! Roberto Bautista Agut meets Jiri Lehecka. They have already played each other four times, including two duels this year alone. The Czech recently recorded his first win, will he follow it up with a second?
He was clearly the better server in the last duel and secured far more return points than his opponent, who is 14 years older. For me, he is rightly favored, and in addition to the Lehecka win, I’m also including the first set win in my Bautista Agut Lehecka betting tip at Bet365
Despite a successful past on hard court, Bautista Agut’s appearance in the final in Antwerp comes as something of a surprise. In previous tournaments, he never made it further than the second round, and at the Masters in Shanghai, he last lost in round one to his compatriot Roberto Carballes Baena.
He is now coping better indoors, has already won his singles matches against Arthur Fils and Lehecka at the Davis Cup and has now won six matches in a row indoors. He really came up trumps in Antwerp.
Only Felix Auger-Aliassime took a set off him in the quarter-finals. Tomas Martin Etcheverry (7-6, 6-4), Luca Van Assche (6-2, 6-1) and Hugo Gaston (6-3, 6-4) were the other opponents.
Since Auger-Aliassime is in a hole in his form again and Etcheverry knows how to perform better on clay courts, I see Lehecka as the strongest opponent, who also feels at home in the Belgian city and had a rewarding opening program with Jaume Munar and Daniel Altmaier.
He then also took Stefanos Tsitsipas out of the field in two sets, only Marcos Giron put up more resistance and was able to equalize the set in the meantime.
Overall, neither Lehecka nor Bautista Agut allowed many breaks. On average, both players were able to secure more than 70 percent of the points after serving.
There are 2.25 odds for a tiebreak in the final at Bet365, where you can pick up a first-class new customer bonus.
In addition, the match will be livestreamed free of charge on the site, so a Sky subscription is not necessary to watch the match.
Lehecka is ahead at 1.33 odds, but Bautista Agut is not a big outsider with 3.20 odds. After all, he also won three of the first four matches. However, the Czech with his strong serve recently prevailed in Beijing.
The bet can be doubled to 2.00 for the smooth 2:0 victory. However, I prefer the variant with the first set and match success, in which case he is likely to concede the second round, a good hedge in my eyes.
In the semi-final against Giron, for example, it would have been decisive. The last time they met, Lehecka lost the first set but then dominated the match, taking it 6-2, 6-1 to 3-6.
Lehecka’s first serve makes a clear difference, although it is a little less reliable, only 51 percent in that match, but the balls he hits with a lot of risk reliably bring the points to his account, 30 out of 36 in Beijing.
He also scored around ten percent more of the return points and took four service games from the Spaniard. A quality that could also make the difference in Antwerp, especially in the event of a tie-break.
Bautista Agut still had his nose in front at the Davis Cup around a month ago, but the Spaniards had a serious home advantage and Lehecka didn’t play his best tennis, so we can expect more with the aim of winning his second career title.
My Bautista Agut – Lehecka tip
In Antwerp, Lehecka has only dropped one service game and one set in four matches, and has had no run-ins with Giron and Tsitsipas. With his fast power game, he will put Bautista Agut under a lot of pressure.
In their last duel, he managed a comeback against the Spaniard and what a comeback it was, a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 come-from-behind win. Bautista Agut has a strong series of six wins in a row indoors and has only conceded a few breaks at 250, which is why a tiebreak bet definitely brings value.
The last strong sets in the direct duel, Lehecka’s current form and the Czech’s better serve – these things lead me to the following bet.
My Bautista Agut Lehecka tip: Set 1 & Match Lehecka.
