Alexander Bublik will face Filip Krajinovic in the first round of the Open 13. The match will start on February 20 at 15:00 UK time.
Bookmaker Ratings: Prediction #1 – Handicap (-2) for Bublik – 1.825.
Bookmaker Ratings: Prediction #2 – Total Games Under 23 – 1.80.
Bookmaker Ratings: Prediction #3 – 1st Set Games Under 9.5 – 2.095.
Last season at the Open Sud de France, Bublik defeated Krajinovic easily enough. That match ended with a score of 6:4, 6:2 in favour of the representative of Kazakhstan. It is likely that this time the victory will go to Alexander. He has more motivation, so he must finally break his unlucky streak. In addition, in Marseille, it’s time for Bublik to improve his game dramatically as he will be defending last year’s semi-final.
In the only face-off between the two tennis players, 18 games were played. It’s likely that nothing will change much now. Still, the players are far from their optimum playing conditions right now, so it should be over quickly.
Bublik is one of the major underdogs of the first few months of the new season. He has not had a single win so far this year. Sasha played a total of eight fights in 2023 but failed in all of them. Moreover, he lost four of them by a dry score.
Including last season, Alexander’s losing streak now stands at ten matches. The last time he won was on October 27, when he defeated Albert Ramos-Vinolas at the Swiss Indoors.
Last week, Bublik lost to Stan Wawrinka (6-7, 4-6) in Rotterdam. Before that, he failed to defend his title in Montpellier, losing straight away to Gregoire Barrere (4-6, 7-6, 6-7).
Remarkably, matches involving Bublik tend to be very tense, but in key moments, he plays worse than his opponents.
Bublik has won seven of his previous ten encounters in the halls of France.
Krajinovic, meanwhile, has not had much to boast about yet either, but in his case, the situation is not so sad after all.
For example, in Montpellier, the Serbian defeated Aslan Karatsev (3-6, 7-6, 6-2). Next was a defeat at the hands of Lorenzo Sonego (5-7, 1-6).
In Pune, Krajinovic made it through two rounds. Admittedly, he didn’t have the most dangerous opponents here. He defeated Sumit Nagal (6-4, 4-6, 6-4) and Michael Mmoh (2-6, 6-3, 6-4) before losing to Benjamin Bonzi (7-6, 6-4).
In the 2018 season, Krajinovic reached the quarter-finals in Marseille.
Krajinovic has lost five times in his last five matches against the top 50.
Type of Court – Indoor Hard
Speed of Court – 7/10
Alexander Bublik’s Rating – 50
Alexander Bublik Wins/Losses in 2023 – 30/8
Filip Krajinovic’s Rating – 69
Filip Krajinovic Wins/Losses in 2023 – 3/3
In 3 of Krajinovic’s last 5 matches, less than 9.5 games have been played in the first set. We offer to bet on “1st Set Games Under 9.5” with odds of 2.095.
Bublik leads with a score of 1-0 in the head-to-head encounters. The only time they met was at the Open Sud de France in 2022. In that match, Bublik defeated Krajinovic (6-4, 6-2) in two sets.
The match will be played in Center Court, Palais des sports de Marseille, Marseille, France.
We recommend checking out the odds for the Open 13: Alexander Bublik vs Filip Krajinovic at 1xBet and VBET.