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Umag Open: Radu Albot vs. Holger Rune 7/19/21 Tennis Prediction

Radu Albot vs Holger Rune
July 19, 2021 10:30 am EDT

Radu Albot of Moldova will face Danish Holger Rune in the First Round of the 2021 Umag Open in Croatia. The match is scheduled for Monday July 19th, 2021 at 10:30am EST.

The unseeded pair of Radu Albot and Holger Rune will face off for the second time in as many weeks. After the Dane won a tight three setter last week at the Nordea Open, the veteran Albot will be out for revenge. Another keenly contested battle is expected here at the 2021 Umag Open, who will win and advance to the Round of 16?

Radu Albot is currently ranked #92 in the world and is unseeded here at the 2021 Umag Open. The Moldovan is a former top 30 player that has fallen off spectacularly over the past few seasons. He has again been having a miserable year in 2021, failing to reach the Second Round in his last nine tournaments. The winner of 1 ATP title in Delray Beach, he is an aggressive baseliner that moves very well, but his game is much better suited for hard courts than the clay. He is the favorite for this match here against Holger Rune, but will be very wary of his much younger opponent as he lost to him in three sets last week in Bastad. Will history repeat itself or can he settle the score?

Holger Rune is a Wild Card this week at the 2021 Umag Open, and is ranked #204 on the ATP Tour. The youngster has been very inconsistent throughout his short career, but has shown that he is a very exciting prospect with a few strong results, like reaching the Quarter-Finals at the ATP Santiago event, and reaching the Round of 16 last week at the Swedish Open. He is a former US Open junior champion and is more comfortable on the hard courts, but is still a solid prospect on clay. His aggressive baseline game should allow him to overpower his opponent Radu Albot, but the challenge for him is if he is able to keep his error count low. If that happens, he has a good shot of getting the repeat win here.

This will be the second time that they have played each other, with Holger Rune winning their only previous meeting. I am expecting another tough battle, but am backing the veteran Albot to win here. He has been in a terrible slump lately, but even when not at his best, he almost was able to win last week in Sweden. His vast experience will be the difference here, and I don’t see him making the same mistakes twice in a row. Rune is capable of winning here, but the smart money is on Radu Albot settling the score and advancing to the Round of 16 here at the 2021 Umag Open in Croatia.

Andy T's Free Pick: Radu Albot to win

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Andy T

Andy is a former player and huge tennis fan. He has a wealth of experience on the tennis circuit and uses it to make the best picks available.

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