With Wimbledon ending Sunday with a second consecutive title for Carlos Alcaraz, the ATP Tour returns to clay, with the biggest tournament of the week played in Hamburg, Germany. While defending champion Alexander Zverev is the only top 10 player in the draw, there are a lot of very good clay court players in it, including a lot of Germans playing at home. It should be a very compelling tournament, starting from this first day. As always, we at LWOT predict all of the matches for you. We split the Day 1 matches between this and a separate article.
ATP Hamburg Day 1 Predictions
Francisco Cerundolo vs Henri Squire
Head-to-head: first meeting
Cerundolo is fresh off back to back heartbreaking Slam defeats in five sets at Roland Garros and Wimbledon and will be looking to bounce back this week. On paper, he could hardly have asked for a better draw; on clay, Squire shouldn’t have much to hurt him with and Cerundolo should be able to advance to the second round.
Prediction: Cerundolo in 2
Rudolf Molleker vs Alexander Shevchenko
Head-to-head: first meeting
Shevchenko is clearly the better and higher ranked player of the two, but clay and the home factor for Molleker definitely evens things up a bit here. The young German has the ability to make things really tough for Shevchenko here, but ultimately the latter should be able to prevail even if in a close, hard fought match.
Prediction: Shevchenko in 3
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Pedro Martinez vs Matteo Arnaldi
Head-to-head: Arnaldi 1-0 Martinez
Both players will be happy to return to their preferred clay after predictably poor grass seasons, but neither will be happy with this first round draw. While Martinez is a solid clay court player, Arnaldi seems to be clearly more talented and with more upside, though he has shown that talent in spurts thus far. He’s looking to get into the top 30 soon and a big run here could help him clinch that.
Prediction: Arnaldi in 2
Main Photo Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports