Sebastian Baez vs Holger Rune Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Italian Open

Prediction published on 12/05/2024, 05:17  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 14/05/2024 at 14:13 in ATP Italian Open Predictions

Holger Rune lost in the final of last year's Italian Open. He's the 10th seed this year and takes on Sebastian Baez who is seeded 19th in round three of this outdoor clay court tounament. The winner will face either either seventh seed Hubert Hurkacz or 25th seeded Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the last 16. Rune was 12th in the latest ranking list but a place lower in the live rankings. The Dane has had a good year so far and is 14th in the Live ATP Race. His best performance on clay so far this year was a run to the last four in Munich. Before that he got to the Monte Carlo quarter-finals and in his most recent tournament lost in the last 32 in Madrid. He began his Italian Open campaign with a straight sets win over the Italian Luca Nardi. He leads Baez 2-1 in previous meetings and it's 1-1 on clay.

Sebastian Baez is the world number 19 which is a career-high for the Argentinian. A couple more wins in Rome will see him move up to 18th and he's currently 15th in the ATP Live Race, just five ranking points behind Rune. He won two back-to-back clay court tournaments in Rio and Santiago but he hasn't been able to maintain that kind of form. In his three European clay court tournaments played this year, he's yet to get past the last 32. This week has seen him beat Dusan Lajovic in straight sets. It was a tight match though with both sets being decided by a tie-break. We go for Rune to get the win in this match