TennisSection previews the 2021 Halle Open as Stefanos Tsitsipas (2) meets Arthur Rinderknech in the First Round on Tuesday June 15th, 2021.
Second seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece will face French Qualifier Arthur Rinderknech in the First Round of the 2021 Halle Open in Germany. The Greek superstar will be looking to bounce back from his disappointing loss in the French Open Final with a strong performance here in Halle as he prepares for an assault on the Wimbledon title. Can the Lucky Loser take advantage of his opponent’s disappointment and cause the shocking upset?
Stefanos Tsitsipas is currently ranked #4 on the ATP Tour, and has been one of the most outstanding and consistent performers this season. After a fantastic run to the Final last week at Roland Garros, the Greek will consider himself unlucky to have not won the title after leading world number one Novak Djokovic two sets to love. It will be a huge test of his mental fortitude for him to bounce back quickly after that loss, but he has matured greatly as a player and I don’t expect that to be an issue. Tsitsipas is considered a major threat for the title at Wimbledon in a few weeks, and it is important for him to get off to a strong start here at the 2021 Halle Open. While he may be physically and mentally drained from Paris, he enters this match as the huge favorite over Arthur Rinderknech.
Arthur Rinderknech is currently ranked #119 in the ATP world rankings, and enters the 2021 Halle Open as a Qualifier. The young Frenchman has been outstanding lately with some strong performances on clay and that form is beginning to translate to the grass courts as well. He was impressive in his two Qualifying wins over Sergiy Stakhovsky and Christopher O’Connell, and his confidence will be sky-high. Unfortunately for him, he has been drawn against one of the best players in the world in Stefanos Tsitsipas and will need a career-best performance here to make it even remotely close. While he is considered the underdog here, it remains to be seen how Tsitsipas reacts after a draining tournament at Roland Garros and Rinderknech will be playing with absolutely nothing to lose here in Halle.
This will be the first meeting between the two players on the ATP Tour and will very likely result in a dominant straight-set win for Stefanos Tsitsipas. While he will certainly be physically and mentally tired from his outstanding week in Paris, there is a huge gap in quality between him and his opponent Arthur Rinderknech and he should breeze to victory here. The Frenchman has had a few grass court matches under his belt this week while Tsitsipas has not, but I don’t see that being a major factor here. I expect the Greek to take a bit of time to get acclimatized, but once he does he should dominate this match here at the 2021 Halle Open.
Free Tennis Pick and Prediction: Stefanos Tsitsipas to win in straight sets.
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