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Match Details
Fixture: (1) Holger Rune vs Marc-Andrea Huesler
Date: February 9, 2023
Tournament: Open Sud de France
Round: Second round (Round of 16)
Venue: Montpellier, France
Category: ATP 250
Surface: Indoor Hardcourt
Prize money: €562,815
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | Australia - beIN Sports | Canada - TSN | Eurosport - France
Holger Rune vs Marc-Andrea Huesler preview
Top seed Holger Rune opens his Montpellier campaign with a second-round clash against World No. 49 Marc-Andrea Huesler on Thursday.
All of 19, Denmark's rising star Rune has grown into a legitimate title contender over the past few months. His first career title came on the claycourts of Munich last summer, where he defeated Alexander Zverev on his way to glory. The teenager followed that up with a run to the semifinals at Lyon and the quarterfinals at Roland Garros.
While he struggled for a few months following that high, Rune came alive once the tour entered the indoor hardcourt season late last year. After finishing as the runner-up in Sofia, he beat Stefanos Tsitsipas to collect the Stockholm title.
The World No. 9 once again suffered a final defeat at the hands of Felix Auger-Aliassime in Basel, but bounced back soon after for the biggest title of his career. Showing excellent fighting spirit and resilience, he stunned Novak Djokovic in three sets to claim the Paris Masters trophy.
Rune, however, has yet to hit his peak form so far this year. Following a first-round exit at the Adelaide International 1, his Australian Open title quest was cut short by Andrey Rublev in five sets in the fourth round.
A late bloomer, 26-year-old Marc-Andrea Huesler has so far tasted most of his success on the Challenger circuit, where he has seven singles titles to show for.
The Swiss, however, took giant strides in the second half of the 2022 season to firmly establish himself on the ATP tour. He made his Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon, following which his next notable performance came at Winston-Salem. The southpaw made a superb run to the semifinals of the ATP 250 event after starting in the qualifying rounds.
He went a step further in Sofia to defeat the likes of Pablo Carreno Busta, Lorenzo Musetti and Holger Rune en route to his maiden tour-level trophy.
Huesler is yet to make an impact on the tour so far this season but the Swiss No. 1 put up an outstanding performance in the Davis Cup Qualifiers over the weekend. The lefty beat Germany's Zverev and Oscar Otte to send Switzerland into the group stage of the Davis Cup Finals.
Riding on the momentum, Huesler beat World No. 145 Luca Van Assche 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the first round at Montpellier to set up a rematch with Rune.
Holger Rune vs Marc-Andrea Huesler head-to-head
Huesler has a flawless 2-0 lead over Rune in their head-to-head, with both their meetings coming last year. While their first encounter at Bastad ended in an easy 6-3, 6-4 win for Huesler, the Swiss staved off late resistance from Rune in the Sofia final for a 6-4, 7-6(8) triumph.
Holger Rune vs Marc-Andrea Huesler odds
(Odds sourced from oddschecker.com)
Holger Rune vs Marc-Andrea Huesler prediction
While Huesler got the better of Rune in each of their last two showdowns, things might be different this time around. The Dane has blossomed into a world beater since the last time the two players squared off and has tremendous belief in his game now.
Under indoor conditions, Huesler's gigantic serve could do a lot of damage. He rained down 13 aces in his first-round match at Montpellier and will look to do the same against his next opponent too.
However, Rune has a more compact game and is definitely stronger and sharper than Huesler off the ground. The 19-year-old's explosive forehand returns will be the key to success for him.
Huesler has also played three matches within a span of a few days and could feel the effects while Rune has had a few days' break since his Davis Cup duty. That could also make a lot of difference in this contest.
Pick: Holger Rune to win in straight sets.
