Andrey Rublev vs Wu Yibing Prediction: We expect a surprise result

The Russian, ranked 7 in the world, finished the Roland Garros on his strongest surface quite unexpectedly against Lorenzo Sonego. Since then, he didn’t play any tournaments on grass. Now he’s back for the first match of the season on this surface in Halle, against the talented Chinese player who won vs Kyrgios last week in the Netherlands. As it takes time to settle into the grass season and considering the opponent's force, an interesting match might come up.

Towards the end of the game versus Sonego at the Roland Garros, he appeared very nervous, having missed a chance to reach the latter stages of the tournament. The clay is one of two surfaces where Rublev conquered the most trophies in his career so far; however, he has to face a dangerous and tricky opponent on grass here. The result is unclear, but he has to use all his skills and keep a high percentage of 1st serves to compete with the talented Chinese.

At least in Asia, the Chinese player is set to be a star. The Chinese tv already interviewed and hosted him several times in sports programs as he’s the first Chinese man to reach the top 70 in the world. His style of play is very consistent, and the service percentage is very high. Hence he was able to trouble and defeat the higher-seeded Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios last weekend. Here he has a great chance to continue his path to the latter stages of Halle’s tournament.

Wu Yibing is in good form, having beaten Kyrgios and losing only against another grass expert player like Fucsovics. He has a great chance to win against Rublev, who hasn’t been playing yet on grass and will make his debut for this season here, in Halle. With the inconstant service of the Russians and the aggressive game of the Chinese, he stands a chance to win the match.