Firenze Open 2022: Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Oscar Otte Tennis Pick and Prediction

TennisSection previews the 2022 Firenze Open as Felix Auger-Aliassime takes on Oscar Otte in the second round on Thursday, October 13th, 2022.

With just three spots left for the ATP Finals, Felix Auger-Aliassime will be looking to stamp his ticket for Turin when he makes his debut at the Firenze Open. The Canadian top seed will face a very onerous opposition in his quest to land his second ATP title. He opens up against Germany’s Oscar Otte on Thursday.

Felix Auger-Aliassime is in pole position to secure his place at the ATP Finals next month as he currently occupies eighth spot in the Race to Turin. The Canadian big server knows it is in his hands and he need not worry about those jostling for places below him. A title win at the Firenze Open will give him some breathing space for a few weeks before the ATP tour embarks on a very decisive and critical two weeks in Vienna and Paris.

Oscar Otte was in action in the first round, beating Hungary’s Marton Fuscovics in three sets. The pair’s first meeting was extremely competitive and it was Otte who came out victorious, converting all three of his break points to win 3-6 6-4 6-2. Fucsovics paid a heavy price for wasting six break points and his profligacy cost him the match. Otte has a chance to return to the world’s top 50 at the Firenze Open but faces a daunting task in his second-round match against the top-seeded Auger-Aliassime.

Felix Auger-Aliassime and Oscar Otte have not played each other on the ATP Tour. The pair, however, have crossed paths on the Challenger Tour-Auger-Aliassime winning their encounter at the Marburg Challenger in 2018 in straight sets. At 29, Otte has been a late developer. He enjoyed his most fruitful period of his career during the grass-court swing in which he reached back-to-back semifinals in Stuttgart and Halle, and made the Wimbledon third-round for the first time. His quest to re-enter the top 50 will have to wait though as we reckon he will fall short against Auger-Aliassime’s firepower.