Tallon Griekspoor vs Constant Lestienne Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Dubai Open

Prediction published on 26/02/2023, 07:57  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 26/02/2023 at 08:58 in Tennis Predictions

Tallon Griekspoor takes on Constant Lestienne in the first round of the Dubai Tennis Championships. The winner of this match will face either top seed Novak Djokovic or qualifier Tomas Machac in round two. Griekspoor is up to a career high 39th in the live rankings. He's been making steady strides up the rankings this year, having started 2023 in 95th place. He's not being that lucky with draws though as this is the second week in a row he's faced with the prospect of meeting the top seed in the second round. Last week in Doha, he beat Quentin Halys in round one but then gave away a set lead to lose to top seeded Andrey Rublev. Two matches played saw three tie-breaks so a bet on one in this match might be a good idea. This year has seen Griekspoor win the title in Pune, get to the semi-finals in Rotterdam and the third round of the Australian Open. 

Constant Lestienne is currently 56th in the rankings, a slight drop as he's about to lose the points earned when reaching a quarter final this time last year. Lestienne has only once made it past the last 32 of a tournament this year. That was in Auckland where he got to a semi-final against Richard Gasquet (the eventual champion) and withdrew with an injury. He didn't beat any top 50 ranked players that week. Since then, the French player has taken part in four events, winning three out of seven matches, two of the victories being in qualifiers. Last week saw him in Doha where he lost in straight sets to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the first round. His only previous match against Griekspoor was in a Challenger event in 2020 with Griekspoor winning in three sets. Another loss looks likely here, possibly in straight sets.