Henri Laaksonen vs Andrey Rublev: Betting on a Sure Win for the Russian

The reigning winner of the indoor in Rotterdam will start the tournament with a match against the Swiss Henri Laaksonen, #85 in the world. The guys have never met on tour. Moreover, the Russian has had no practice playing in the hall this season, unlike Laaksonen. But despite this, Rublev, as a more status tennis player, is quoted as the big favorite of the pair.

Four wins and five losses - these are the statistics of the Swiss in 2022. Henry was eliminated in the first round at the Australian Open, losing to Daniil Medvedev in three sets. Then he moved to Europe, where he lost his first matches in Kemper and Montpellier. At the Rotterdam event Laaksonen qualified, beating out Džumhur and van Rijthoven in three sets. The plus is the Swiss managed to get some playing practice.

Andrey played below his level, losing to Cilic in the third round of the Australian Open. Remember that the Croatian was quite a convenient opponent for Rublev. But Andrey lost to Marin, knocking out Magere and Berankis before that, both in 3-set matches. Let's not forget that Rublev came to Rotterdam to defend his title. Accordingly, the Russian in the first rounds of the tournament will try to win and do it as confidently as possible.

Rublev had plenty of time to work on his mistakes after the not-so-successful Australian Open. Laaksonen is quite a mediocre opponent for Rublev. Plus Andrey has always played fairly well on the indoors, as evidenced by his title in Rotterdam a year ago. We believe Rublev has all the chances to beat Henry and get off to a good start at the tournament in the Netherlands.