Tennis acca tips: Holger Rune battling to stay ahead of Taylor Fritz

The ATP Race to Turin is centre stage on Thursday, with eighth-placed Holger Rune and ninth-placed Taylor Fritz in action in Basel.

Also on Thursday, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev can inch closer to qualification.

Here we make a handful of picks from the matches scheduled to go down on Thursday 26 October 2023.

ATP Basel: Alex De Minaur vs Tallon Griekspoor | Pick: De Minaur

ATP Basel: Holger Rune vs Sebastian Baez | Pick: Rune

ATP Basel: Taylor Fritz vs Alexander Shevchenko | Pick: Fritz

ATP Basel: Nicolas Jarry vs Ugo Humbert | Pick: Humbert

ATP Vienna: Matteo Arnaldi vs Andrey Rublev | Pick: Rublev

ATP Vienna: Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Tomas Machac | Pick: Tsitsipas

ATP Vienna: Borna Gojo vs Tommy Paul | Pick: Paul

ATP Vienna: Frances Tiafoe vs Gael Monfils | Pick: Tiafoe

ATP Basel: Alex De Minaur vs Tallon Griekspoor

Tallon Griekspoor beat Alex De Minaur when they met on his home turf at 's-Hertogenbosch, but the Australian has defeated the Dutchman, albeit on the Challenger tour.

De Minaur was good enough to get a straight sets win over Diego Schwartzman in the first round.

Griekspoor had to battle to three sets against Thiago Seyboth Wild and he could struggle to match De Minaur.

Both players have championship quality, and this could be a tight battle.

ATP Basel: Holger Rune vs Sebastian Baez

Holger Rune should be able to strengthen his Race To Turin position when he faces Sebastian Baez in Basel.

These players have met three times in competitive tennis, but only one of those meetings came in a full ATP Tour match.

Baez has won two of the three matches against Rune but hasn't met the Dane indoors.

Rune has a great indoor swing last year and could use a strong finish to his season.

ATP Basel: Taylor Fritz vs Alexander Shevchenko

Taylor Fritz starts his Basel campaign against Alexander Shevchenko, who has already played three matches at the Swiss Indoors.

Shevchenko had to fight through the qualifiers and upset Stan Wawrinka to reach the last 16, while Fritz got a bye through to the second round.

Fritz and Shevchenko have not shared a court before, and the American's problem-solving on the fly will be tested.

Fritz is out to put pressure on Rune as the ninth-placed man on the Race to Turin standings.

ATP Basel: Nicolas Jarry vs Ugo Humbert

Ugo Humbert will be out to repeat his victory over Nicolas Jarry from August of this year when they face off in Basel.

Humbert's win in Toronto gives him an edge heading into this contest, even if Jarry is the higher-ranked player.

Jarry bested Humbert's compatriot Adrian Mannarino in the Round of 32.

Humbert needed to win a tiebreak in the decisive set to get beyond Maroc Giron in a tense start, but that should give him a measure of self-belief.

ATP Vienna: Matteo Arnaldi vs Andrey Rublev

Andrey Rublev shouldn't even entertain any thoughts of an upset when he faces Matteo Arnaldi.

Rublev is also out to seal his place in the ATP Tour Finals but faces a player who won a pair of tiebreaks to eliminate Spanish veteran Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

Arnaldi is out to get a first top ten win in his maiden clash with Rublev.

Rublev should have enough tools to break down the young Italian and progress to the last eight.

ATP Vienna: Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Tomas Machac

Stefanos Tsitsipas found form in an intense clash with home favourite Dominic Thiem and must guard against complacency against Tomas Machac.

Tsitsipas holds a 67-place rankings advantage over Machac and should get beyond the Czech with relative ease.

However, the Greek has endured patchy form in recent weeks and will want to build momentum and clinch his Finals place.

Thiem is seventh in the Race To Turin and by no means safe from missing out on the eight-man event.

ATP Vienna: Borna Gojo vs Tommy Paul

Tommy Paul's rankings charge will be put to the test when he faces mercurial Croatian Borna Gojo.

Gojo hasn't consistently hit the heights that Paul has throughout a great season for the American.

Paul and Gojo have never met before, and that probably works in the American's favour.

Paul is still in the Race to Turin as well but would need a strong run here in Vienna and in Paris.

ATP Vienna: Frances Tiafoe vs Gael Monfils

Frances Tiafoe is also in the Race to Turin but has a tough opponent in the resurgent Gael Monfils.

Monfils and Tiafoe meet for the first time in two years and are at 1-1 across the two previous meetings.

Tiafoe needs a win to keep himself in the Race, with all the contenders still in action this week.

Tiafoe should be able to take a 2-1 lead in the rivalry if he plays his best tennis.