ATP Antwerp Outright Preview and Betting Tips

Andy Watson in ATP Tour 16 Oct 2023
2K8H6RC Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime poses for the photographer with the winners trophy after the men’s singles final match between Canadian Auger-Aliassime and American Corda, at the European Open Tennis ATP tournament, in Antwerp, Sunday 23 October 2022. BELGA PHOTO DAVID PINTENS

The European Indoor swing begins in earnest this week with Antwerp (and Stockholm) kicking things off ahead of the run that builds to the ATP Finals in Turin in November.

The European Open held in Antwerp began life on the ATP Tour in 2016. Initially dominated by the French contingent who always seemed to show up in force for the local(ish) indoor events, the tournament has carried a more international flavour in the last few editions.

The defending champion is Felix Auger-Aliassime, but the Canadian isn’t in the draw to actually defend the 250 points or the title. In fact, the only former winner in the draw is Richard Gasquet, who won the first ever European Open in 2016!

With the tournament being indoor, the conditions are consistent, and quick. There has been a mixture of styles that have done well here though, from the big serve-big forehand combinations of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Auger-Aliassime, as well as the road-runner type of Diego Schwartzman and Alex De Minaur, both of whom are former finalists here.

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ATP Antwerp Betting Tips

Alexander Bublik 1pt @ 12/1 at BetVictor

Arthur Fils 1pt @ 14/1 at Betfred

Arthur Rinderknech 1pt @ 20/1 at BetMGM

 

ATP Antwerp Draw

Antwerp has a 8-seed, 28-man draw. The top 4 seeds will be given a bye into the second round and the qualifying slots will be finalised on Monday.

ATP Antwerp Betting Tips

Stefanos Tsitsipas is the obvious and correct favourite for this event. Though the Greek will probably be disappointed with his overall year, he has the class edge on the whole field here. There is some doubt though, Tsitsipas has never played this event before and his recent form is poor, no quarter final appearance since his run to the Los Cabos title in July/August.

The winner has come from the top two seeds in 3 of the 7 events here, and unseeded players have won twice, one of whom was Andy Murray in 2019.

Alexander Bublik 1pt @ 12/1 at BetVictor

Bublik is seeded third here, and whilst one always has to be a tad reticient backing the mercurial Kazakh to win any tournament given his volatile nature, there is no doubt that, on talent, his current price is far too big.

He has a very strong record, at least compared to this field, in indoor hard events, one of his two ATP tour titles came at Montpellier last year, which is also an indoor ATP250 tournament, so he has decent form in these conditions. He is also a title winner in 2023, which very few of the field can also say.

His bye into the second round should also help his cause, reducing the chance of an early blowout with Bublik knowing that four wins will be enough for the title.

Arthur Fils 1pt @ 14/1 at Betfred

The young Frenchman is almost there in terms of being classed as an elite player, yet his odds don’t reflect this at all. Fils is now up to French #3 in the current rankings, inside the top 40, and it surely won’t be long until he is French #1, possibly for a long time as well.

The 19-year-old won his first ATP Tour title in Lyon this year, on the clay, but also won his first Challenger title back in January indoors in Portugal, as well as getting to the Quimper final that same month, also indoors. So this is a player with form in the conditions and at the quality level required.

The only doubt is his draw. To win the title he would have to beat Fabian Marozsan, a fancy that didn’t quite make the list, and, probably, Stefanos Tsitsipas, as well as the finalist from the bottom half of the draw. However, this is built into the price, which is a fairly generous one.

Arthur Rinderknech 1pt @ 20/1 at BetMGM

Another French name for the list, hoping to rekindle their love affair for this tournament. Rinderknech has gotten caught up in the qualifying and early round cycle of the tour since he intially burst onto the scene last year.

However, his talent isn’t really in question, and he has an excellent hard indoor record. Rinderknech has five Challenger titles to his name, three of which are on indoor hard surfaces. He has a big serve and that will clearly help him here.

He only has one ATP final to his name so far, but there is no player in his section of the draw that he should fear and his price is a good one.