Matteo Berrettini vs Alex Michelsen Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Halle Open

Prediction published on 17/06/2024, 08:53  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 17/06/2024 at 10:53 in Tennis Predictions

Stuttgart runner-up Matteo Berrettini takes on qualifier Alex Michelsen in round one of the Halle Open. They'll be fighting it out for the right to meet either fourth seed Andrey Rublev or Marcos Giron in round two of this grass court tournament. Berrettini is up to 65th in the world rankings after his run to the final in Stuttgart where he lost to Jack Draper in three sets. In the live list he's down to 67th and 54th in the ATP Live Race. Injuries have made it difficult for the former top ten ranked player. He seems fit at present though and has already won one clay court tournament this year. Berrettini was the Wimbledon runner-up three years ago and has won four grass court titles. He hasn't played in this tournament for the past eight years but reached the last four in 2019.

Alex Michelsen is four places higher than his opponent in the latest ranking list at 61st. He had to qualify to get into this main draw and that's taken him up a place to 60th which equals his career-high. In the qualifying rounds, the American won both of his matches in straight sets, including a win over Yannick Hanfmann in the final qualifying round. The 19-year-old is 71st in the ATP Race and has reached two quarter-finals this year, one on clay, the other in a hard court tournament. This is his third grass court tournament of the year and he'd lost both his matches before the Halle Open qualifiers. One was to Paul Jubb who was ranked outside the top 300 at the time. Last year saw him reach the final of the Hall of Fame grass court tournament held in the USA. This is tough and we tip Berrettini to win in straight sets.