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ATP Montreal Day 2 Predictions Including Fabio Fognini vs Holger Rune

Holger Rune Monte Carlo

A rain soaked first day at the ATP National Bank Open in Montreal has left Day 2 with a huge amount of matches to get through. If the weather decides to hold up, then we’re in for a treat with some stunning matchups throughout the day. As throughout the week, we will be offering up our predictions on the matches in store. We split the day’s 16 new matches (there are also some holdovers from Monday) into four articles. In addition to this one, the other articles feature Nick Kyrgios vs Sebastian Baez, Matteo Berrettini vs Pablo Carreno Busta, and Hubert Hurkacz vs Emil Ruusuvuori. So, who marches into the second round?

ATP Montreal Day 2 Predictions

Tommy Paul vs Vasek Pospisil

Head-to-head: Paul 1 – 0

Tommy Paul has been in great form this year. Plenty of notable victories and tournament runs have put him close to the top 30, and he continues to impress week by week. His speed around the court mixed with some excellent shot-making can make him a highly dangerous opponent, and this could be a big part of the season for him.

Pospisil is still capable of great tennis, but it’s extremely rare these days and he’s not the player he once was. The last time these two played was at this exact tournament last year, which Paul won in three sets. Since then, Paul has improved massively whereas Pospisil has had no real go forward for a while. Paul is a great returner and he shouldn’t have too many issues with the Canadian’s big serve, which is the only area in which he can hope to dominate.
Prediction: Paul in 2

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Adrian Mannarino vs Arthur Rinderknech

Head-to-head: First meeting

Rinderknech hasn’t played a competitive match in over a month, and this is isn’t the ideal opponent to play first up. Mannarino is still playing some excellent tennis, and his game suits a quick court so well. Though the bounce is higher than he’d prefer, he is immensely tough to beat.

Rinderknech is good enough to hit hard and overpower Mannarino, but he can do it for three sets after a month off? It’s unlikely, and Mannarino’s solid game will probably be too much to handle in the end.
Prediction: Mannarino in 3

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Miomir Kecmanovic vs Botic van de Zandschulp

Head-to-head: 1-1

This matchup may not grab the headlines, but it’s still an absolute cracker. Van de Zandschulp has stepped into competing full time on the ATP tour brilliantly this year, and looks completely at home every week on each surface. He should have heaps of confidence during this part of the season, given that his great breakthrough came during last year’s US Open.

Kecmanovic was one of the in-form players on tour for a part of this year. His ball striking is phenomenal and it works very effectively on a quick hard court. It’s no surprise that the head-to-head is split and that their matches have been close. They both hit an extremely heavy ball off both wings and both have a decent serve too. I’ll give the slight edge to Kecmanovic as his peaks this year have been top 10/15 worthy–but he’ll need to bring it.
Prediction: Kecmanovic in 3

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Fabio Fognini vs Holger Rune

Head-to-head: First meeting

Another blockbuster match in store. Holger Rune has been in horrendous form since his quarterfinal run at the French Open, and snapped a seven-match losing streak against Benoit Paire last week. However, he was unable to back this up in his following match as he went out to J.J. Wolf. Rune is no doubt an exceptional talent, but his dip in form has been very significant.

Sadly for Rune, this isn’t an opponent who you’re likely to find your rhythm against. Fognini is impossible to read in a number of ways, and it’s often hard to know if he’ll turn up or not. His best is world-beating, and his worst is beatable by anyone inside the Top 100. It’ll be interesting to see how Rune plays given his form. Fognini is a tough opponent but he’s not done anything of late that convinces me he’s an obvious winner here. I’ll give the youngster the edge.
Prediction: Rune in 3

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