Alexandre Muller vs Rinky Hijikata Prediction & Betting Tips - Shenzhen Open, China

Prediction published on 20/09/2023, 08:09  by Daniel Ngulu in Tennis Predictions

Unseeded Alexandre Muller and Rinky Hijikata will meet on Thursday at the Zhuhai Championship first round. Alexandre Muller is coming off a semifinal finish at the Cassis challenger and will hope for a similar deep run here. The run in Cassis ended a difficult two-month period for the Frenchman who had lost seven successive matches prior. Muller has now won three of his last four matches and is up three places to 81st in the live ranking. He has compiled a 39-26 record and has won one challenger title and finished as runner-up in two other tournaments.

Rinky Hijikata defeated Muller the first time they met, which was on grass at Wimbledon last season. He will hope to fare as he did then and his current form will have him confident of a win. The Australian has won seven of his last 10 matches which have all been on hard court. This run has taken his tally for the season to 36 wins in 64 outings. He has recorded 27 of his total victories on hard courts, a surface that has produced his sole title of the season. Hijikata lost in the final of the Cary II challenger before arriving in Zhuhai. Despite his success in Cary, the 22-year-old is down four places to 76th in the live ranking. The winner of this tie will play fourth-seed Sebastian Korda next.