Acapulco, Dubai and Santiago: our forecasts for this week's tennis tournaments
by Cydias Aujard | by Cydias Aujard
ATP 500 Dubai
For your tennis previews, a new edition of the ATP 500 tournament in Dubai will open its doors this week to find out who will succeed last year's winner: Frenchman Ugo Humbert.
The Frenchman is back this season to defend the title he won against Alexander Bublik. And Ugo Humbert is off to a great start to the season, having successfully defended his title at the Marseille tournament by winning the final against Hamad Medjedovic. This was his second consecutive success in front of his home crowd, but it should be difficult for him to repeat the feat in Dubai. Indeed, he has lost a few feathers in the process, as he is currently suffering from an injury that forced him to take time off from the Doha tournament last week.
Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard will face Zhizhen Zhang in the first round before possibly coming up against Daniil Medvedev. Arthur Fils, meanwhile, could face Alexander Bublik or Felix Auger-Aliassime in the second round if he manages to stop Nuno Borges. These will be tough duels, but there is no real hope of a Frenchman winning the title.
Another name is set to feature prominently this season, with the presence of Russian Daniil Medvedev. The number 1 seed in this tournament, he is no stranger to the venue, having reached the semi-finals here last year and, more importantly, won the title in 2023 against Andrey Rublev. Stopped in the second round of the Australian Open, the Russian also failed to progress beyond the last eight in Rotterdam, concluding an inadequate start to the season. He seems to have come to his senses in Marseille, where he was a semi-finalist against Hamad Medjedovic, but above all at the Doha tournament last week.
There, he stopped Karen Khachanov and Zizou Bergs before unfortunately retiring in his quarter-final against Felix Auger-Aliassime after suffering from food poisoning. This sudden end to his health should certainly have given the Russian player a great deal of motivation to arrive at this tournament with a fighting spirit in order to really open his title account in this 2025 season.
Number 3 seed Andrey Rublev could also have been a formidable opponent in the race for the title, having won his final here in 2022. But he has just won the title at the Doha tournament against Jack Draper. An exceptional run for the Russian, who nevertheless lost a lot of energy in his duels with Alex De Minaur and Felix Auger-Aliassime and is unlikely to arrive fresh enough to achieve a similar feat in this tournament.
Our prediction for the ATP Dubai winner: Daniil Medvedev wins, priced at 5.60!
ATP 500 Acapulco
The 32nd edition of the Acapulco tournament gets underway this week, and one thing is certain: the winner will not be the same as in the previous two years. Australian Alex De Minaur, winner in 2023 and 2024, will not be defending his title this year.
On the French side, Arthur Rinderknech will be taking part and will have to face the number 2 seed Casper Ruud in the first round. Alexandre Müller will also be on the courts, but having just won the Rio de Janeiro tournament, the combination of these two tournaments should make it difficult for him to go far here too. Finally, Benjamin Bonzi could face number 4 seed Holger Rune in the second round if he manages to win his first match against Brandon Nakashima.
The name to watch in this hard court tournament is Canadian Denis Shapovalov. Concluding his 2024 season by winning the title at the Belgrade tournament, the 25-year-old, who was in the top 20 for four seasons not so long ago, seems determined to make a rapid ascent up the rankings. The 32nd-ranked player in the world made his mark at the Dallas tournament a fortnight ago, stringing together five consecutive victories against some of the best players in tennis today, including Taylor Fritz, Tomas Machac, Tommy Paul and Casper Ruud, against whom he won the title in the final in a 2-set match. An exceptional triumph that should have given him all the confidence he needed to repeat a similar feat at this Mexican tournament.
Our ATP Acapulco winner's prediction: Denis Shapovalov wins, priced at 11.00!
ATP 250 Santiago
It was Argentine Sebastian Baez who won the 14th edition of this Chilean tournament last year against local Alejandro Tabilo. This year, we can also count on the presence of the two former finalists. Sebastian Baez will be seeded number 3 and will be looking to defend his title. But the Argentinian has just had a great run at the Rio de Janeiro tournament, reaching the final, where he lost to Müller, and is unlikely to have the energy to repeat the feat here. Alejandro Tabilo, meanwhile, has suffered a string of defeats this year and has yet to taste victory in 2025.
It's the name of Argentine Francisco Cerundolo that should stick in our minds. Competing in the first clay-court tournament of his season in Buenos Aires, he put in an excellent performance, racking up 4 consecutive wins. In particular, he eliminated tournament favourite and world number 2 Alexander Zverev in a 3-set match in the quarter-finals, before stopping Spain's Pedro Martinez in the semi-finals. An opponent he could meet again in the semi-finals of this tournament, and whom he should dominate with ease.
A finalist against Joao Fonseca, the Argentinian lost without managing to win a set and should want to try his luck again, this time to end his tournament with the title. A quarter-finalist at last week's tournament in Rio de Janeiro, the Argentinian certainly has all the skills needed to make his mark in clay-court tournaments, having already won a title on this surface last year in Umag, Croatia.
Our prediction for the ATP Santiago winner: Francisco Cerundolo wins, priced at 5.20!
