Rotterdam Open: Rune vs Lestienne Tennis Prediction & Pick

TennisSection previews the 2023 Rotterdam Open as Holger Rune takes on Constant Lestienne in the first round on Wednesday, February 15, 2023.

Will Holger Rune begin his Rotterdam Open adventure with a win? Or will France’s world No. 54 Constant Lestienne author a shock win? This could be one-way traffic, but Lestienne is a perennial threat on this surface. So who will prevail?

Holger Rune was tipped to go the full distance in Montpellier last week but met his match in the semifinal. Rune was outgunned by USA’s Maxime Cressy who pinched the final set tiebreak to knock out the top seed. But that hasn’t dampened Rune’s confidence or the feel-good factor in his camp. He has a very busy schedule this February and as long as he keeps making these deep runs, he will be holding another ATP title very soon.

Constant Lestienne, meanwhile, has registered two very impressive wins in qualifying to reach the main draw at the Rotterdam Open. Lestienne defeated Maximilian Marterer in two tiebreak sets, then exacted revenge on Nikoloz Basilashvili, whom he lost in Montpellier last week, to thrust his name in the draw. Lestienne has won almost 200 matches on indoor hard courts in his professional career but faces a daunting task on Wednesday against Holger Rune.

Constant Lestienne leads Holger Rune 1-0 in their head-to-head. That meeting took place in 2019 on the Challenger circuit. Rune was still an up-and-coming star at the time, but he is now a fully-fledged top-10 player. Last week’s defeat to Cressy should be treated as a minor blip, and we expect the young Dane to make a strong start to his Rotterdam Open campaign.