Hamburg Open winner Andrey Rublev plays young Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the second round of the 2020 French Open. This match will be played on Thursday, October 1 and with the exact timing yet to be determined. Get the live streaming options of this Andrey Rublev v Alejandro Davidovich Fokina match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Andrey Rublev v Alejandro Davidovich Fokina Head to Head
This will be the first ever meeting between both players on the ATP tour.
Also Read:
Roller Coaster Few Days For Rublev
Andrey Rublev returned to the tour in the latter part of 2019 after a long injury lay-off and performed well to win the Kremlin Cup, as well as register wins against the best on the tour such as Roger Federer, Stanislas Wawrinka, Dominic Thiem and others. Incidentally, the Hamburg Open in July 2019 was one of the big turnaround events of Rublev’s career.
Fast forward 12 months, and Andrey Rublev arrives at the French Open having just won the 2020 Hamburg Open and on the cusp of being ranked in the top 10 of the ATP rankings. It has been a satisfying 2020 for the Russian with titles in Doha, Adelaide and now Hamburg. He also did well to make the last 16 at both majors this year in Melbourne and New York.
After a strong return to clay with the Hamurg title defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas, it was quick shuffle over to Paris for the last major of the year. Starting as a strong favorite against out of form big serving Sam Querrey, Rublev saw himself down two sets having lost two tie-breaks and down a break in the third set.
With Querrery serving for the match, Rublev found himself on the verge of an unexpected French Open exit.
A great comeback by Rublev followed, who won in a deciding fifth set to not only seal a spot in the second round, but also win his first ever match at the French Open. With strong groundstrokes and his iconic running forehand in play, the Russian went from strength to strength in the decider as the Querrey serve let him down at crucial points in the match.
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Fokina Increasing In Confidence
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina had his first notable season in 2019, when he won two challenger titles. He also reached his maiden ATP event semi-finals at Estoril, where he recorded his first-ever tour-level win. The Spaniard continued his impressive run and broke into the top 100 of the ATP rankings. He also qualified for the season-ending Next Gen ATP Finals to cap off a brilliant year.
It has been surprisingly last month, especially at the US Open. He came up against three much higher ranked and more accomplished opponents in Dennis Novak, Hubert Hurkacz and Cameron Norrie and secured hard fought wins against them all.
These wins were a testament to his grit as the youngster dug deep to grind out these upsets. Despite a fourth round loss to eventual finalist Alexander Zverev, Fokina left the US Open with confidence and plenty to be proud of.
After a disappointing second round loss at the Italian Open to Dusan Lajovic, Fokina looked in good touch in his opener here against Harold Mayot, prevailing in straight sets. A natural to the slower surface, like many from Spain, Fokina put his grit and ability to grind on the clay to full use in his straight sets victory.
Rublev v Fokina Prediction and Tip
Although Rublev is coming off a five-setter that he should have won more comfortably, he has been in good touch and will start as a strong favorite. Given his recent form and the Hamburg title win, he will be looking to forget all about his opener and reset and keep going. Fokina has been improving undoubtedly, but Rublev in form will be hard to get by.
Expect a straight sets win for Rublev.
Tip: Rublev to win in straight sets: 1/1 (bet365)
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The French Open 2020 will be played from September 27 to October 11. You can watch & bet on the French Open here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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