For those longing for some first-strike tennis and low-skidding slices, the ATP World Tour grass-court season provides this week with the 2019 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships. The 3-time champion Nicolas Mahut lost in qualifying and with no other previous champions in the draw, we might be in for some exciting results. Today we look at various matches including Christian Garin vs Salvatore Caruso.
Christian Garin vs Salvatore Caruso
Head to head: Caruso 2-0
This is definitely the least interesting part of the season for both guys. Caruso made it quite a match against Novak Djokovic at the Roland Garros, while Garin has two clay court titles under his belt this year already. Caruso did well to qualify, defeating Marcos Giron and Filip Horansky but his run probably ends here. The Chilean is in the best form of his life and successfully managed to qualify for Wimbledon in the last two years. Garin has a lot more experience on a surface that they both don’t feel great at.
Prediction: Garin in 3
Robin Haase vs Ugo Humbert
Head to head: First meeting
Another youngster trying to find his way on grass, Humbert played his first professional match on the surface against the eventual runner-up Viktor Troicki in Surbiton last week. With Haase really struggling for form recently, the home crowd advantage may not be enough. Interesting to see how Humbert fares on an unknown territory, but he seems to like low bouncing surfaces and might be a good grass player in the making.
Prediction: Humbert in 3
Taylor Fritz vs Jurij Rodionov
Head to head: First meeting
Rodionov also lost to Troicki last week in Surbiton and is another question mark on the green surface. However, Taylor Fritz had a great clay-court build-up, somehow overcoming the fact that his footwork on the dirt is that off a bull in a china shop. His typically American serve plus forehand game works well on grass and we can see him as a very dangerous dark horse this year.
Prediction: Fritz in 2
Joao Sousa vs Frances Tiafoe
Head to head: Sousa 2-0
The Portuguese won this exact matchup in a very closely-contested encounter a month ago in Rome but on a different surface, it’s Tiafoe that seems to be favored. The American’s very unusual groundstrokes will provide little to none baseline rhythm and make it extremely tough for Sousa to play his game.
Prediction: Tiafoe in 3
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