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Sergiy Stakhovsky and Pierre Hugues Herbert will square off on Wednesday in the second round at the ATP 500 event in Halle.
Stakhovsky is already playing his third tournament in a row on grass, having lost in the first round at the Surbiton challenger (Ward) and in the second qualifying round in Stuttgart (def Menendez Maceiras, lost to Galovic). This week in Halle he is faring much better, passing qualifications with wins over Gulbis and Bachinger, and also defeating Molleker in the first round on the main draw after saving match point.
Herbert had a solid season so far, and he will feel he has a chance of breaking the top 35 for the first time in his career after the grass court season, considering that he doesn`t have a lot of points to defend from last year. Herbert reached the second round last week in Stuttgart (def Ebden, lost to Goffin), and claimed a spectacular straight sets win over Gael Monfils on Monday here in the ATP Halle first round.
Bet on Stakhovsky v Herbert and claim your 100% (100 Eur) freebet at 1XBet now!Herbert leads the H2H 2-0 (no meetings on grass), both wins coming in straight sets back in 2015. Both players are very good on grass, with Stakhovsky probably having an edge as one of the few net experts left on tour.
Stakhovsky has always been an excellent player on this surface, but at this stage of his career he`s not what he used to be. He had poor results on grass this season prior to Halle, and even this week he wasn`t that great, even if he passed qualifications and won a match on the main draw. He beat Gulbis who is an absolute disgrace right now, and went on to lose sets to both Bachinger and Molleker – even facing match point against Molleker, who was not exactly the most dangerous opponent.
While Stakhovsky is navigating the last years of his career, Herbert is in his prime and has looked very good this season, including on grass. He faced a very difficult task in the opening round, but he rose to the challenge and played solid tennis to get past Monfils in straight sets.
It`s hard to see Herbert losing this unless it will just be “one of those days” in which either Herbert has a shocker, or Stakhovsky plays his best game of the year, or both. Normally, Stakhovsky shouldn`t get too many chances on the Herbert serve, while Herbert should take advantage of Stak’s risky net play and get some good looks to break.
While some may not be satisfied with the odds and will maybe want to take this bet in an accumulator, for me anything above 1.35 is worth playing as singles. My tip is Herbert to win. Prediction: Sergiy Stakhovsky – Pierre Hugues Herbert 6-7 2-6.
Pick: Herbert
Odds: 1.39 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 9
Possible profit: 3.51
Event date: 19 June
