Top seed Alex de Minaur has a blockbuster first-round matchup on his hands in Rotterdam against Arthur Fils. Tuesday’s order of play also features Dutch favorite Tallon Griekspoor facing Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
(1) Alex de Minaur vs. Arthur Fils
Fils’ comeback to tennis went well enough last week in Montpellier. Having not played since the Toronto Masters last summer, the 21-year-old Frenchman defeated Valentin Royer and Ugo Blanchet before falling to eventual champion Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals.
That is the good news for a player who missed so much time with a back injury. The bad news, of course, is that he has to go up against the No. 1 seed in round one of the ABN AMRO Open. De Minaur won their most recent meeting in four sets at Wimbledon in 2024 after Fils got the best of their first encounter in straight sets on the red clay of Barcelona earlier that season. The eighth-ranked Aussie is coming off a quarterfinal performance in Melbourne and he has finished runner-up in each of the past two years in Rotterdam, so he should have the upper hand.
Pick: De Minaur in 2
(7) Tallon Griekspoor vs. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard
Griekspoor and Mpetshi Perricard will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers on Tuesday. Their only previous matchup came last spring in Indian Wells, where Griekspoor scored a 7-6(3), 6-3 victory.
This should be another favorable spot for the 27th-ranked Dutchman, who has home-court advantage and has reached the semifinals of this event in two of his last three appearances. Mpetshi Perricard can’t be anywhere near as confident. The big-serving Frenchman is mired in a slump and he also sustained a freak eye injury when a tennis ball to the face forced him to retire from a Montpellier first-round match last week. And even though this is an indoor hard court, the conditions are probably not quite as fast as Mpetshi Perricard would like.
Pick: Griekspoor in 2