As the grass season kicks off on the ATP Tour with events in the Netherlands and Germany, the event in ‘s-Hertogenbosch (“Den Bosch”) is headlined by world #3 Daniil Medvedev. Whilst the Russian doesn’t start his campaign on the second day of the event however, #2 seed and fellow Top 10 player Jannik Sinner does alongside Borna Coric who’s had good results on this surface in the past.
ATP Den Bosch Day 2 Predictions
Ugo Humbert vs Emil Ruusuvuori
Head-to-head: Ruusuvuori 3-0
Whilst the head-to-head is 3-0 to the man from Finland, it’s somewhat misleading. Yes, two of the matches were in the past two months and all three were on clay but to compare the clay to the grass would be very misleading. Ruusuvuori’s game works better on slower surfaces where he can hang in rallies and grind opponents down whilst Humbert’s flat forehand and serve penetrate the grass well, as evident with his title win in Halle two years ago. In this battle of 24 year olds, the Frenchman should have the upper hand if he plays his cards right and delivers the level we know he can produce on the surface.
Prediction: Humbert in 2
Rinky Hijikata vs Marc-Andrea Huesler
Head-to-head: 0-0
Although he’s 22 and ranked 133 in the world, it just hasn’t happened for Australian Hijikata yet, at least not in singles, he did win the Australian Open doubles title earlier this year mind you. But there’s perhaps good reason why it hasn’t worked out, there just isn’t anything special in the young man’s game, it’s all just average or below to say the very least. On the grass you need to go out there and win matches and the Australian’s gamestyle simply doesn’t do that.
Huesler, on the other hand, isn’t much different and in all honesty is in ridiculously bad form without back-to-back wins in a good four months on tour. However, a stunning upset win against Maxime Cressy in the first round should give the Swiss a good confidence boost to break that streak.
Prediction: Huesler in 2
Borna Coric vs Mackenzie McDonald
Head-to-head: McDonald 1-0
Without being disrespectful to both men, it’s somewhat a matter of producing on the biggest stage then doing absolutely nothing in the past year. Borna Coric obviously won his maiden Masters title in Cincinnati last year with a few stunning top 10 wins against the likes of Rafael Nadal and Stefanos Tsitsipas and since then has struggled to even win matches. McDonald on the other hand straight setted Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open and hasn’t even come close to reproducing that form since January either.
On paper, the American’s game should suit the surface taking the ball early and being a fairly decent returner but his results show otherwise without two wins in a row on grass on the main tour since Wimbledon 2018. Due to all the injuries we haven’t seen much of the Croatian on grass at all the last few years, in fact, the last time he played Wimbledon was five years ago, ironically the same year he beat Roger Federer in the Halle final, so it’s obvious he can play well on this surface when fully fit. This one is very hard to call but due to far better recent form despite it being on the clay, it’s hard to look past Coric.
Prediction: Coric in 2
Jannik Sinner vs Alexander Bublik
Head-to-head: Sinner 2-0
Without a doubt the match of the round. Bublik not only serves huge but off the ground both the backhand and especially forehand can be lethal when he’s on, as last year’s Wimbledon quarterfinalist David Goffin found out in the first round. Sinner, on the other, hand may not produce the firepower and serve of the Kazakh but he produces far better movement and return. Let’s not forget he was a set away from beating eventual champion Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon last year too; the Italian knows how to play on this surface.
The only potential issue for the World #9 is how he’ll handle a heartbreaking choke at Roland Garros not too long ago. If he can get over that quickly and produce the tennis that got him into the Top 10, he should be able to break down and extract enough errors out of Bublik, which is what I expect. If not, or if the 25-year-old redlines, then Sinner may well have his work cut out for him here.
Prediction: Sinner in 3
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
