Alexander Bublik vs Holger Rune Prediction: Rune will be favored

The ATP fanfare is drawing towards the French Open but a lot of festivities still remain. We will see the action taking place on the clay court which means that the pace is slower than the hard or green courts, multiplying challenges for the players that rely on volleys. Anyway, in another clay court affair, Alexander Bublik takes on Holger Rune.

Bublik comes into the game after a nail-biting win over Daniel Elahi Galan 7-6, 6-7, 6-4. In the first set, the tiebreaker ran 17-15 which is a rare occurrence. The second tiebreaker ran 7-4 while Bublik finally closed the deal in the third set. Alexander eked out a significant 94-79 service points edge. Galan had a stronger return game, winning the receiving points battle with a 46:35 advantage. Most of Bublik’s campaigns have ended in the first round and a tough draw sees an early exit.

Rune comes into the game after winning the Bavarian Open where he defeated Botic van de Zandschulp in the Final. Before that, Holger had made it to the Final of Monte-Carlo Masters where he lost to Andrey Rublev in Final. This has been his most productive window considering that in tournaments like Open Sud de France, he saw early exits, although those losses were also hard-fought. He is just 19 years old and has already cracked open into top-ten rankings implying that he is steadily becoming a high-profile player.

Bublik and Rune have met once which was during September 2022 Moselle Open. In that game, Bublik won in three sets.

Rune may have certain flaws in his game and Bublik may lead the h2h 1-0, he is growing leaps and bounds with each tournament and makes it tough for his opponents even when he is losing. I expect Holger to avenge his Moselle Open loss but this may go to three sets.