Thursday tennis acca tips: Holger Rune to start Munich title defence strong

Holger Rune may have gone out at the quarter-final stage in Monte Carlo but he showed that he can compete with the best in the game.

Rune needs a strong performance in Munich to avoid a mini-rankings collapse given that he was the title winner at last season's BMW Open.

Here we make our picks for the winners from selected ATP Tour matches slated to be played on 18 April.

 

ATP Barcelona: Roberto Bautista Agut vs Cameron Norrie | Pick: Bautista Agut

ATP Barcelona: Tomas Martin Etcheverry vs Brandon Nakashima | Pick: Etcheverry

ATP Bucharest: Miomir Kecmanovic vs Pedro Martinez Portero | Pick: Kecmanovic

ATP Bucharest: Thiago Seyboth Wild vs Mariano Navone | Pick: Navone

ATP Munich: Botic Van De Zandschulp vs Jan-Lennard Struff | Pick: Struff

ATP Munich: Yannick Hanfmann vs Marc-Andrea Huesler | Pick: Hanfmann

ATP Munich: Daniel Elahi Galan vs Holger Rune | Pick: Rune

ATP Munich: Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Taro Daniel | Pick: Auger-Aliassime

 

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ATP Barcelona: Roberto Bautista Agut vs Cameron Norrie

Roberto Bautista Agut is out for a deep run at last in Barcelona but will have to overcome a man with a 2-0 head-to-head lead over him.

Norrie is no slouch on clay and owns a win over the Spaniard on the surface from a Davis Cup clash in 2018.

Norrie saw his first opponent retire after levelling up the match and doesn't appear to be playing at tip-top level right now.

Bautista Agut has come through two tricky matches and this might just be the perfect set-up for a home win.

 

ATP Barcelona: Tomas Martin Etcheverry vs Brandon Nakashima

Tomas Martin Etcheverry tests his hot form against American Brandon Nakashima in Barcelona.

Etcheverry has looked very good on clay this season but has had some fitness concerns.

Nakashima will want to try to drag the contest out if he cannot get on top early on.

However, Etcheverry should have the firepower to down Nakashima.

 

ATP Bucharest: Miomir Kecmanovic vs Pedro Martinez Portero

Miomir Kecmanovic has his first run-in with Spain's Pedro Martinez Portero in Bucharest.

Both players came through first-round assignments in three sets.

Portero is coming off his maiden ATP final appearance thanks to his deep run in Estoril.

Kecmanovic has struggled on clay in recent seasons but generally plays quite well on the surface.

 

ATP Bucharest: Thiago Seyboth Wild vs Mariano Navone

Mariano Navone holds a 2-1 career head-to-head lead over Thiago Seyboth Wild and could stretch that in Bucharest.

Navone and Wild have met three times in the same Buenos Aires Challenger event.

Navone could make his top-50 breakthrough with a strong run in Bucharest.

Wild is close to a career-high ranking but has been drifting around the lower third of the top 100 for some time.

 

ATP Munich: Botic Van De Zandschulp vs Jan-Lennard Struff

Jan-Lennard Struff can avenge a loss to Botic Van De Zandschulp at the Australian Open as he continues his run in a home tournament.

Struff is the higher-ranked player and will probably be more comfortable with the Munich clay.

Struff enjoyed a bye through the first round and therefore hasn't played since his Monte Carlo loss to Jannik Sinner.

Van De Zandschulp needed three sets to get beyond Ivan Gahkov.

 

ATP Munich: Yannick Hanfmann vs Marc-Andrea Huesler

Yannick Hanfmann is set for a first-ever clash with Swiss World No 227 Marc-Andrea Huesler.

Huesler had to come through qualifying to reach the main draw in Munich.

Hanfmann battled through a marathon first-round match that lasted nearly two and a half hours.

Huesler has still spent a lot more time on court so far this week having gone past five hours during his first-round win after battling through a tough qualifying section.

 

ATP Munich: Daniel Elahi Galan vs Holger Rune

Holger Rune will have to ignore Daniel Elahi Galan's ranking and pay attention to his record on clay.

Galan has more than 240 match wins on clay over the course of his career.

Rune is a great allrounder though and also enjoys the red stuff truth be told.

These players have never met before but this should be a straight sets win for Rune.

 

ATP Munich: Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Taro Daniel

Felix Auger-Aliassime should be able to repeat his 2017 Challenger win over Taro Daniel when they meet in Munich.

Since that meeting, Auger-Aliassime has established himself as a genuine title threat and has many tipping him to win a Grand Slam.

Few would put Daniel in the category of potential slam winner but he could be a stumbling block for the Canadian No 1.

Auger-Aliassime hasn't strung together back-to-back wins since February but the circumstances are lined up for him to break that sequence at the BMW Open.