Matteo Berrettini vs Karen Khachanov Tennis Betting Tips and Predictions - 6/21/2019

Matteo Berrettini vs Karen Khachanov

4 am EST, 21st June 2019

ATP Hertogenbosch, Netherlands

Grass courts

Surprisingly, Seppi has proven to be the toughest opponent for Berrettini since the start of the grass court season. Matteo cruised through entire last week in Stuttgart, beating all of his opponents in straight sets and not dropping his serve throughout the duration of the tournament. Already vs Basilashvili in the first round of Halle, he was not as convincing. It was still enough for a straight set win, but he had to work harder for it. To me, that was an indication that the playing conditions in Halle could be slightly slower compared to those in Stuttgart. He can't get as much penetration with his power through these courts and that allows his opponents to defend with more success. Seppi did exactly that by being very solid from the back of the court, not overwhelmed by Berrettini's power. Wisely staying away from his forehand and keeping the ball low over the net, preventing Berrettini to get a good swing on his forehand side. All that worked really well for a set and a half until the crucial seventh game of the second set, when Seppi failed to convert the break point and get really close to winning this match. Instead, He got broken in the very next game for the first time in the match and everything went downhill from that point on. Berrettini definitely deserves the credit for hanging in there even when things were not going his way, but once again, it was obvious that he's not as dominant in Halle as he was last week in Stuttgart.

Related: Get Expert ATP Picks for today's matches

It will be a rematch from last week. Karen Khachanov got into the quarterfinals after a very strong performance in the second round vs Jan-Lennard Struff. It was probably a match of the tournament so far with two powerful players trading blows the entire match. Numerous attractive moves on both sides and just a couple of points deciding the winner in the end. Looking just at the stats, there is nothing special to be seen there. But the eye test confirmed that Khachanov had to play on a very high level to get past Struff. He faced only a single break point in the entire match and was extremely solid from behind the baseline, often forcing the German to play 5-6 high-quality shots in order to take control over the point.

Matchup

As I mentioned, this will be a rematch of their meeting last week in Stuttgart. Khachanov was nowhere near winning there. Berrettini was simply feeling the ball too well and in those faster conditions, it was almost impossible to do anything against his serve and forehand. This time around, I am sure the match should be way more competitive. Berrettini might be cooling down a bit, after playing so many matches in the past couple of weeks and the conditions here are slower, making his weapons less deadly. And once Khachanov finds some rhythm on his groundstrokes, the way he did vs Struff in the previous round, it is very difficult to put the ball behind his back.

Related: Get ATP Moneyline Picks for today's matches

Betting odds & prediction

For their previous bout, Khachanov was slightly favored. And linemakers being under influence of how that match played out, they turned it around this time and put the Italian in the role of favorite. In my opinion that is a mistake. This match should be much different from the previous one. Slower conditions in Halle will help Khachanov defend with more success and make this match way more competitive than the last one. Maybe even tilt the scale on his side.

Tony's Pick: Karen Khachanov +100

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