Yannick Hanfmann vs Francisco Cerundolo Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Buenos Aires

Prediction published on 13/02/2023, 07:15  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 13/02/2023 at 09:15 in Tennis Predictions

Fifth seeded Francisco Cerundolo faces qualifier Yannick Hanfmann in the Argentinian Open first round. The winner of this match will take on either unseeded Jaume Munar or wildcard Guido Pella in the second round. Looking further ahead, the top seed is in this top half of the draw and that's the returning Carlos Alcaraz. This is a clay court tournament so we can get some early clues on what might happen at the French Open. Cerundolo is ranked 30th at present so could well be seeded for that Grand Slam. His next target will be to get back to and then surpass his career high ranking of 24th achieved last July.  After losing both of his matches in the United Cup, Cerundolo made it to the third round of the Austraian Open where he lost to Feilx Auger-Aliassime. Last week saw him back on clay and he reached the quarter finals of the Cordoba Open. Cerundolo lost to Fedrico Coria, retiring when a set and 3-0 down in the second set. He'll look to do better this week and it's a tournament he enjoys having reached the final two years ago.

Yannick Hanfmann starts this tournament ranked 134th in the world. That's well below his career high of 92nd achieved two years ago. He's up three places in the live rankings after winning two qualifiers to make it into the main draw. He had to go to three sets to get past Juan Manuel Cerendolo (brother of Francisco) but then only lost one game against Hugo Gaston to get into this first round. Hanfmann also made it through qualifying at the Australian Open. He then took on Australian Rinky Hijikata and won the first two sets, only to lose the next three. A Challenger Tour quarter final was reached next time out but he lost in the first round of the Cordoba Open held last week. Francisco can get some revenge for his brother with a win in this match.