Roberto Bautista-Agut vs Andrey Rublev Prediction & Betting Tips - Halle, Germany

Prediction published on 24/06/2023, 02:15  by Devesh Jaganath | Modified on 24/06/2023 at 02:59 in Tennis Predictions

World number seven Andrey Rublev will take on 23rd-ranked Roberto Bautista Agut in the semi-final of the 2023 ATP Halle Open on Saturday. The winner of this match will face either Alexander Zverev or Alexander Bublik in the final on Sunday. This is the ninth time that the pair face each other, and they have both won four times, though this is the first encounter on grass. It certainly hasn't been smooth sailing in this tournament for Rublev, which started with a harder-than-expected win over Yibing Wu in the first match, which needed three sets to decide. He then overcame Yannick Hanfmann fairly easily but found himself in another almighty battle against Tallon Griekspoor, who made a real fist of it in the last set. He broke Rublev's serve and saved four match points but came up just short. Rublev got there in the end and is now 30-12 for the year and 3-0 on the grass. This is just Rublev's fourth match on the surface in two years, and he will need to be at his best to overcome this opponent. 

While Bautista-Agut is not very well known for his grasscourt game, he did win in Rosmalen in the past and reached the final in Mallorca last year. He began this year's Halle Open in the best way possible, beating Andrea Vavassori and Brandon Nakashima in straight sets in the opening rounds. He went into his third-round match as the underdog against Daniil Medvedev but went toe-to-toe with the Russian and managed to overcome him after a second-set tiebreak. He is now 15-14 for the year and 3-0 on the surface. That win announced him as a real contender in this competition, and he's become accustomed to wearing the outsider tag. Can he claim another top-ten scalp in this one?