Muller vs. Bublik, Kecmanovic vs. Marozsan

Main-draw action in Halle gets underway on Monday, when Alexander Bublik looks to build on momentum from Wimbledon against Alexandre Muller. Miomir Kecmanovic and Fabian Marozsan are also taking the court.

Alexandre Muller vs. Alexander Bublik

You had to figure that Bublik would not turn his season around until at least the grass-court swing, but it happened on clay. The 27-year-old Kazakh won the Turin Challenger and then made an improbable run to the French Open quarterfinals, upsetting Jack Draper in the process. Bublik now makes the move from he least favorite surface to his favorite one, and he returns as a past champion (2023) to the Terra Wortmann Open. The world No. 43 beat Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev, and Andrey Rublev at this tournament two years ago, so he has plenty of reasons to be confident heading into this week.

Up first for Bublik on Monday is a first-ever meeting with Muller, who comes in one spot off his career-high ranking at No. 40. The Frenchman is a solid 17-13 this season, but he has cooled off a bit since a title in Hong King and a runner-up performance in Rio de Janeiro at the start of the year. Muller would much rather contest this particular matchup on clay, so Bublik should have the edge.

Pick: Bublik in 2

Fabian Marozsan vs. Miomir Kecmanovic

Kecmanovic and Marozsan will also be going head-to-head for the first time on Monday. Not unlike Bublik vs. Muller, this appears to be a surface mismatch. Marozsan has played nine grass-court matches in his entire career, winning only three of them. Kecmanovic won more matches on grass last summer alone (four) and has 16 such victories in his career.

Grass will likely make the difference in a matchup that is similar in terms of both ranking (Kecmanovic 46th, Marozsan 58th) and current form. Both players own even 4-4 records in their last four events. The bottom line is that Marozsan likes to push opponents behind the baseline with heavy hitting to give himself time to execute his favorite shot–the dropper. That’s hard to do on grass and even harder to do against an opponent in Kecmanovic who plays on top of the baseline and loves to take balls early.

Pick: Kecmanovic in 2