Rotterdam Open: Rublev vs De Minaur Tennis Prediction & Pick

TennisSection previews the 2023 Rotterdam Open as Andrey Rublev takes on Alex De Minaur in the first round on Wednesday, February 15, 2023.

Andrey Rublev and Alex De Minaur will clash in their fourth career meeting at the Rotterdam Open. Both these two players lost against Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open, and haven’t played since. So who will prevail?

Andrey Rublev comes to this year’s Rotterdam Open as the number two seed. It is one of four ATP 500 titles that he had won in this part of Europe, doing so in 2021 and dropping just one set all week. Rublev could have his hands full this week and he intends to reprise that result he will need to do better than his inauspicious start to the campaign. His first-round opponent Alex De Minaur has a winning record against him but should feel confident of his chances in these conditions.

Alex De Minaur, meanwhile, reached the fourth round of the Australian Open, equaling his best showing from last year, but was soundly beaten by eventual winner Djokovic. De Minaur scored his best win by ranking at the United Cup where he defeated Rafael Nadal in three sets. He will be playing at the Rotterdam Open for the third time in his career, having reached the last eight in his most recent visit last season.

Alex De Minaur leads Andrey Rublev 2-1 in their head-to-head. De Minaur recorded both wins in the 2018 season, but it was Rublev who came out on top in their most recent clash in Monte Carlo last season. After an inauspicious start to 2023, Rublev quickly hit his stride in Melbourne, posting some high-quality wins over Dan Evans and Holger Rune at the Australian Open. Rublev has a lot more potential with his game to win here. De Minaur will be relentless from the baseline trying to get to every ball as he always does, but it should be in the Russian’s racket to overpower his opponent at will.