And just like that, we’re back on the clay!
HAMBURG OPEN 2024 PREVIEW
Our five-week-tour on the grass has now sadly come to an end. Say goodbye to London and Hallo!! to Hamburg…
Hamburg is the only 500 event of the week and will host a singles and doubles event at the Rothenbaum Tennis Center in Hamburg, Germany.
Seeded Players in the event are
- Zverev
- Rune
- Baez
- Cerundolo
- Fils
- Arnaldi
- Daederi
- Zhang
As well as being the top seed, Alexander Zverev is the defending champion. After a somewhat disappointing showing in Wimbledon where he went out in the last 16 against Taylor Fritz, the top German will look for no less than a repeat of his 2023 triumph. He will begin the week against a qualifier and is likely to meet Facundo Diaz Acosta in the second round. If he reaches the quarter final he is likely to play Zhizhen Zhang or possibly compatriot Daniel Altmaier.
The top seed in the second quarter is fourth seed Francisco Cerundolo who will play a wildcard German player Henri Squire. On form, this should be very manageable for the Argentinian, who should meet Soonwoo Kwon or wildcard Maximilian Marterer in the second round. Kwon is just returning from injury so it will be interesting to see his level. In the same quarter, Alexei Popyrin, who reached the 3rd round in Wimbledon only to run into Novak Djokovic, will start his week against a qualifier, while out-of-form Pedro Martinez amd Matteo Arnaldi will meet as both look to bounce back from poor grass court seasons.
The top seed in the third quarter Sebastian Baez will begin his week against home player Dominik Koepfer. Baez will be a favourite heading into that match but he will need to be at his best against the world number 66 who will be confident of an upset on home soil. Baez was 0/3 on grass this year and should be happy to get back to clay.
The other standout match in this quarter will be the clash of Italians Luciano Darderi and Lorenzo Sonego. Darderi, the seventh seed, will be slight favourite in the match but it should be one of the most competitive matches of the opening round. If Darderi can navigate past Sonego, we could see Baez v Darderi in the quarters where I would fancy Darderi to come through to meet the winner of Quarter four.
The Fourth Quarter is headed by Number 2 seed Holger Rune who reached the last 16 at Wimbledon before running into eventual finalist Novak Djokovic. Rune will meet Fabian Marozsan who was 1/5 on the grass season and, after a solid start to the season overall , had been struggling to repeat that form on clay. Rune should come through the opening round to meet Sebastian Ofner and then a likely quarter final against Arthur Fils.
Semi Finals: Zverev v Cerundolo, Darderi v Rune
Final: Zverev v Darderi
Winner: Zverev.
Value: Cerundolo @ 8.6 on Betfair Exchange https://www.betfair.com/exchange/plus/tennis/market/1.230693650
Dark Horse: Darderi, who didn’t have the best season on grass but won a clay Challenger event just 3 weeks ago in Perugia without dropping a set. Currently trading at 17 on the exchange: https://www.betfair.com/exchange/plus/tennis/market/1.230693650