Alexander Bublik will meet Cristian Garin in the First Round of the 2022 Florence Open. The match will be played on Tuesday October 11th at 6:30am EST.
A thrilling clash is expected here at the Florence Open as heavyweights Alexander Bublik and Cristian Garin square off for a place in the Round of 16. Both players are very aggressive and exciting, so it is one that fans will not want to miss. Who will get the edge here in Florence?
Alexander Bublik is the seventh seed here at the Florence Open ATP event and is ranked 43rd in the world. The Kazakh is as unpredictable as they come but he certainly loves the indoor hard courts, reaching two Finals out of three events this year for a 10-3 win-loss record. Unfortunately, he ran into Hubert Hurkacz on a good day last week in Astana, crashing out in the second round and will be hoping to bounce back quickly here. His opponent Cristian Garin is very solid but has been inconsistent this year plus has never found much success on this surface. Bublik is the big favorite here with his massive serve and all around game and will be expected to advance.
Cristian Garin is unseeded here at the Florence Open and really has had a rough year. After showing so much promise a couple seasons ago, he has seen his ranking slowly decline and has been struggling to string wins together. In what has been a poor season he shockingly reached the Quarter-Finals at Wimbledon, but has gone 1-5 since then. Given that he is not a fan of this quick indoor surface, we are not expecting much here especially since his opponent Alexander Bublik has been outstanding on it this year. He is the underdog here but shouldn’t be totally discounted due to his immense talent and quality.
While it is very difficult to trust Alexander Bublik, we are heavily backing him here. The Kazakh clearly loves this surface and his opponent Cristian Garin does not. The gulf between the two on indoor hard courts is quite large, and while it is not impossible for him to win, it is a huge ask. I wouldn’t go so far as to trust Bublik to win in straight sets, backing him to win overall is a very good shout here at the Florence Open.