Top-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime will begin his title bid in ‘s-Hertogenbosch on Thursday, with Marton Fucsovics on the other side of the net. Also on the second-round schedule is an all-French affair between Arthur Rinderknech and Adrian Mannarino.
(1) Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Marton Fucsovics
Auger-Aliassime and Fucsovics will be facing each other for the seventh time in their careers and for the second time this season when they meet again in round two of the Libema Open on Thursday. The head-to-head series stands at 4-2 in Auger-Aliassime’s favor, and he has won four of their last five encounters after most recently prevailing 7-6(3), 7-5 at the Miami Masters.
Thursday’s showdown promises to be another good one, because both players are extremely adept on grass. Auger-Aliassime, who likes to keep points short with a big serve-forehand combination, is a former Wimbledon quarterfinalist. The fourth-ranked Canadian is coming off a mixed bag of results at Roland Garros; he reached the quarterfinals thanks in part to a favorable draw but suffered a disappointing loss to Flavio Cobolli. Fucsovics is 48-28 lifetime on grass and already has a good win in ‘s-Hertogenbosch under his belt, taking down Hubert Hurkacz in a third-set tiebreaker. An upset is possible, but chances are good that FAA will once again have the upper hand in this matchup.
Pick: Auger-Aliassime in 3
Adrian Mannarino vs. (4) Arthur Rinderknech
The most important part of Mannarino’s season lasts only four weeks — or five if he makes a deep run at Wimbledon. There is no time to waste for the 37-year-old Frenchman when he steps onto the grass, because wins are very hard to come by for him on any other surface at this point in his career. Mannarino’s summer on the slick stuff got off to a positive start on Tuesday, when the world No. 46 defeated defending champion Gabriel Diallo 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.
Up next for Mannarino on Thursday is fourth contest against Rinderknech, who trails the head-to-head series 2-1. Grass is also a decent surface for the 24th-ranked Frenchman, who is 22-21 all time on the lawns and beat both Ben Shelton and Reilly Opelka en route to the Queen’s Club quarterfinals last summer (lost to Carlos Alcaraz). Unfortunately for Rinderknech, he is just 6-9 in his last 15 matches and this a nightmare grass-court matchup as he makes the transition from clay following a first-round bye at this tournament.
Pick: Mannarino in 3