Botic Van De Zandschulp vs Casper Ruud Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Monte Carlo Masters

Prediction published on 11/04/2023, 09:53  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 12/04/2023 at 08:15 in Tennis Predictions

Fourth seeded Casper Ruud takes on unseeded Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters. The winner of this match will face either 14th seeded Alex de Minaur or qualifer Jan-Lennard Struff in round three. Ruud has already had success on clay this month as he won the Estoril Open. He began this week ranked fourth in the world but is up to third in the live rankings before he even plays his first match. Ruud hadn't had the best of years with no quarter finals reached before his success in Portugal and is 28th in the Live ATP Race. A return to clay is just what the 2022 French Open finalist needed. He reached the last four in Monte Carlo two years ago but lost in the third round to Grigor Dimitrov in 2022.  He's lost three of his four matches against van de Zandschulp but is 1-1 on clay.

Botic van de Zandschulp began this week ranked 31st in the world so has work to do to secure a seeding at the upcoming French Open. The Dutchman saw his year get off to a good start with a semi-final in Pune. It's been an inconsistent year since then though with just one quarter final in Dubai. He did get a win over Ruud in the Miami Masters last month but that was on an outdoor hard court rather than the clay of Monte Carlo. The 27-year-old played the Marrakech clay court event last week but lost in the first round. He won the first set against Christopher O'Connell but then lost the second set 6-4 and didn't win a game in the final set. He had a struggle to get past Marton Fucsovics in the first round of this tournament. Three sets were needed for his win after dropping the first set. Ruud looks to be in the better form and can get the win.