The first round matches at the 2020 Rio Open will kick-start from Monday, February 17 as the likes of young Cristian Garin and veteran Fernando Verdasco lead the action. All the information around those matches can be found below with the latest Fernando Verdasco v Pablo Andujar & Cristian Garin v Andrej Martin tips, previews and live streams below among other matches.
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Fernando Verdasco v Pablo Andujar Predictions & Preview
This is the sixth meeting between the two Spanish veterans. Verdasco leads the head-to-head by 3-2. Their last meeting was last month in Doha at the Qatar Open, which was won by Verdasco in straight sets. This meeting between the players was after an almost six-year hiatus.
Fernando Verdasco, currently ranked just within the top 50, was once ranked within the top ten in the world. He has been on the tour for close to a decade and a half, and has been a consistent performer. A regular member of the top 20-30 of the ATP world rankings, Verdasco has throughout his career come up with many an impressive result against some of the best contenders on the tour.
2019 was a less than average year by Verdasco’s standards. With his ranking just within the top 50s now, the Spaniard has attempted to aim for better results this year. In addition to a round of 32 Australian Open loss against Alexander Zverev, Verdasco has incurred some disappointing losses this season at tournaments like Doha and Cordoba and will look to get his season back on track in the imminent future.
His opponent Pablo Andujar is another veteran on the tour whose career has been through crests and troughs. After a good performance at the 2019 USOpen, Andjuar is looking to be a force again on the tour. Despite having managed to get off to starts this year, the Spaniard has not managed to make inroads into the different tournaments, falling short at the hands of Verdasco, Lopez and Casper Ruud to name a few.
An encounter with plenty at stake for both players as they attempt to get back to winning ways in the twilight of their career. Expect the more experienced and familiar, Verdasco to win in straight sets.
Tip: Verdasco in straight sets : 4/6 (Click here to get these odds with bet365)
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Cristian Garin v Andrej Martin Predictions & Preview
This is the second meeting between Cristian Garin and Andrej Martin. Incidentally, their first meeting was less than two weeks ago, in the semi-finals at the Cordoba Open, which Garin won in straight sets. Garin also went on to win the title later that week.
2019 was a breakthrough year for Chile’s young Cristian Garin. The 23-year-old depicted his strong skills on clay, winning two ATP titles at Houston and Munich and being a runner-up in Bavaria. Garin broke into the top 40 last season and looks to have carried on his good form this year too.
After an indifferent Australian Open where he had a first week loss to Milos Raonic, Garrin came back to win the title next week at the Cordoba Open. Not only was it another title on the clay for the Chilean, but he also defeated clay court specialist and Argentine home favorite Diego Schwartzman in the final on his way to the title, and a career high ranking of number 25 in the world.
Slovakia’s Andrej Martin has been on the tour for a number of years, but has been more of a force to reckon with, on the ATP Challengers & ITF Futures tours. A lucky loser at the 2016 French Open where he made the round of 32, Martin is just about ranked within the top 100 at the moment now. An unexpected performance at the Cordoba Open which saw him make the semi-finals is one that will have give him plenty of confidence and hope, of further improving his results.
Garin is naturally inclined to the clay and been in good form of late. Expect a straight set win for the Chilean.
Tip: Garin in straight sets: 2/7 (Click here to get these odds with Unibet)
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Albert Ramos – Vinalos v Carlos Alcaraz Predictions & Preview
Albert Ramos-Vinalos has been on the tour for more than a decade and has a game that is best suited to the slower clay courts. Once ranked within the top twenty, in 2016-2017, the Spaniard is now ranked just outside the top 40 in the world.
Winner of two ATP titles in his career, and a French Open 2016 quarter-finalist, Ramos -Vinalos has been looking to hit some good form this season, but has been erratic thus far, and will be looking to regain consistency and confidence prior to the clay court seaon, beginning April.
Caros Alcaraz is an unknown name on the ATP tour. Ranked outside of the top 400 in the world, the Spaniard has been a regular on the ITF circuit and is making his debut on the main ATP tour this season. Only 16 years old, Alcatraz is a wild card this week at Rio and expected to learn and make the most of this opportunity.
Given the vast difference in the stature of both players, expect a clinical win for Ramos-Vinalos.
Tip: Ramos-Vinalos to win in straight sets: 2/9 (Click here to get these odds with Unibet)
Corentin Moutet v Federico Coria Predictions & Preview
In a first meeting between the players, Next Gen Frenchman Corentin Moutet plays relatively unheralded Federio Coria of Argentina.
Moutet looking to establish himself on the circuit, similar to several other of the ‘Next Gen’, is twenty years old and has had a decent start to the 2020 season. This was highlighted by a finals run at the Qatar Open in Doha earlier this year. The Frenchman defeated Milos Raonic, Tennys Sandgren, Fernando Verdasco and Stan Wawrinka en route, before falling to Andrey Rublev in the final.
Federico Coria is the brother of former world number three and French Open finalist Guillermo Coria. Although he has been on the tour for a few years, he has primarily participated at the Challenger & ITF Futures level thus far.
Looking to step his career further on the main ATP tour, Coria will hope for a good run this week here in Rio.
Expect a close encounter between the two players with Moutet winning in two hard-fought sets.
Tip: Moutet to win in straight sets: 5/4 (Click here to get these odds with Unibet)