Third seed Andrey Rublev and wildcard Yannick Hanfmann will battle in the second round at the Halle Open. Rublev has begun his grass court campaign with this tournament where he is a former finalist. He defeated Wu Yibing in the first round in three sets. The Russian has now won 28 of the 40 matches he has played this season. This strong return has seen him play three finals and win one title. Rublev and Hanfmann have played each other twice and have each claimed one win. This however will be their first meeting on grass. Rublev is currently ranked seventh in the ATP.
Hanfmann defeated Rublev the last time they met, which was earlier this year in the fourth round in Rome. Considering this as well as the support from the home crowd, Hanfmann will be confident of winning. The German arrives for this match having won 32 of the 47 matches he has played. He is also making his season debut on grass in Westfalen and defeated compatriot Louis Wessels in three sets in the last round. The win was his first in the main draw here and the third overall in four appearances now. Hanfmann is up five places to number 48 in the live ranking which is a new career high for him. The winner of this match will play the winner of the tie between Hubert Hurkacz and Tallon Griekspoor in the quarterfinals.
Our prediction for Andrey Rublev v Yannick Hanfmann is for Rublev to win in three sets. Both players have tasted victory against each other. Hanfmann has done it more recently - this year. We pick Rublev however to win as he is the better player on grass and is a former finalist here in Halle.