Casper Ruud vs Jaume Munar Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Japan Open

Prediction published on 03/10/2022, 09:33  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 03/10/2022 at 10:34 in Tennis Predictions

Top seed Casper Ruud takes on unseeded Jaume Munar in the Rakuten Open first round. The winner of this match faces Pedro Martinez in the second round which is the last 16 of this tournament. Ruud began this week ranked third in the world but will rgain second place from Rafael Nadal if winning this title. He slipped down a place last week after losing in the quarter finals in Seoul to Yoshihito Nishioka. That was his first ATP Tour tournament since reaching the US Open final, though he has had a couple of wins in the Davis and Laver Cup tournaments. July saw him win a clay court tournament (we're on hard courts this week) in Gstad and he beat Jaume Munar on the way to that title.

Munar is the world number 58 which is just six places below the career high 52nd he achieved three years ago. The 25-year-old Spaniard lost in straight sets to Ruud in Gstad but both were decided by a tie-break. That tournament was the last time that Munar has reached a quarter final. His best results have come on clay and in June he won a Challenger Tour event held on that surface. The only other ATP Tour quarter final he's reached this year was in Melbourne in January.  Go for Ruud to win this in straight sets, have a side bet on a tie-break.