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Match Details
Fixture: (1) Holger Rune vs Sebastian Baez
Date: October 26, 2023
Tournament: Swiss Indoors 2023
Round: Second Round (Round of 16)
Venue: St. Jakobshalle, Basel, Switzerland
Category: ATP 500
Surface: Hard (Indoor)
Prize money: €2,196,000
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | Canada - TSN | UK - Amazon Prime
Holger Rune vs Sebastian Baez preview
Top seed Holger Rune will take on Sebastian Baez in the second round of the 2023 Swiss Indoors on Thursday.
Rune was up against Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round, who had just defeated him at last week's Stockholm Open. The Danish youngster lost the opening set rather tamely, as he was able to bag just one game in it.
Rune trailed by a break in the second set but broke back immediately to level the score. With Kecmanovic serving to force a tie-break at 6-5, the 20-year-old secured a break of serve to take the set.
Rune became more confident in his gameplay in the third set following this. A single break of serve in his favor was all it took for him to complete a 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 comeback win.
Baez faced Christopher O'Connell in the first round here. The Argentine led by a break in the opening set but squandered his advantage and eventually lost the set in the tie-break.
The two were on even footing in the second set until Baez upped the ante and swept the last three games of the set to claim it. He raced to a 5-2 lead in the decider and served for the contest, but O'Connell nabbed a break of serve to keep himself in contention.
Baez got back on track rather quickly, as he broke back and closed out the proceedings on his fourth match point to win 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-3.
Holger Rune vs Sebastian Baez head-to-head
The two have split their previous couple of meetings evenly to tie the head-to-head at 1-1. Baez won their last encounter at the 2022 Argentina Open in straight sets.
Holger Rune vs Sebastian Baez odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Holger Rune vs Sebastian Baez prediction
Rune's first round win over Kecmanovic was just his second since his quarterfinal exit from Wimbledon. It looked like he would lose to the Serb yet again, but he dug deep to score a much-needed win. The Dane smacked 32 winners compared to 15 unforced errors in the last round.
Baez's form has been quite up and down in recent weeks as well, but he, too, fought back to down O'Connell in his opener. The Argentine struck 37 winners and committed 11 unforced errors en route to victory.
Both of their previous matches were on clay, which played to Baez's strengths. Despite that, Rune did manage to win a match against him. However, given the 20-year-old's form, he's not the firm favorite this time.
Rune played like a top player in the latter stages of his first round match. If he brings the same intensity against Baez, he's likely to find himself in the next round.
Pick: Holger Rune to win in three sets.
