Hamburg Open is one of the oldest tournaments on the tour, and it used to be one of the lead-up tournaments to the French Open until 2008, after which it has been hosted in July every year. Roger Federer holds the most titles at Hamburg Open in the open era by winning four championships, and he is also one of the four players to have won consecutive titles in Hamburg.
The 2022 Hamburg European Open will be played on the outdoor clay courts and will take place from 18th to 24th July. The clay event is considered one of the most popular tournaments and it is the final ATP 500 event taking place in July. Even amongst such strong entries, the headline for the ATP 500 event is led by the 19-year-old and first seed Carlos Alcaraz.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: July 17th, 1:00 p.m. (GMT)
Alcaraz enters the tournament as the betting favorite, and for all the right reasons. Online bookmaker Bwin has Alcaraz priced at 1.67 for the Hamburg Open. However, Rublev will be looking to take back his throne and is listed at 7.00 to do so. Pablo Carreno Busta is the third favorite at 13.00 to repeat last year’s feat with Diego Schwartzman trailing right behind him at 15.00. However, Schwartzman has never won the tournament before and he will need to maintain his best form to have a shot at the championship.
You should consider looking at the Hamburg Open’s history and the form of the players before betting on this clay court tournament. It is always a good practice to look at the players’ performances in the Italian Open, Madrid Open, and, of course, the French Open.
The 19-year-old Alcaraz headlines the top half of the draw and is all set to make his debut in Germany at Rothenbaum Tennis Stadium against the wild card entry Nicola Kuhn. Alcaraz has won four titles in 2022 and three of them have come on the red dirt. He has been showing exceptional form this year, and it is no surprise that he is the heavy favorite to win his fifth title of the year at the Hamburg Open.
Sebastian Baez has been showing good form lately, and the Argentine showed that he can be a force to be reckoned with by reaching the finals of the Swedish Open. If Alcaraz beats Sebastian, he could either meet Fabio Fognini or Karen Khachanov. With his given form, it won’t be surprising if he wins in straight sets to set a semi-final showdown possibly against the defending champion Pablo Carreno Busta.
We see Rublev’s comeback this year and he’ll be looking to win a second Hamburg Open title. He is the 2nd seed behind the World No. 6 Alcaraz. We also have 2021 winner Pablo Carreno Busta, two-time winner Nikoloz Basilashvili and Diego Schwartzman expected to give tough competition to Alcaraz to win his maiden Hamburg Open title. We also have Aslan Karatsev, Alexander Bublik, and Karen Khachanov in the mix who have been improving with every tournament that they are playing.
Although Alcaraz is the favorite to win the tournament, it won’t be as easy for the prodigy to make his mark on the dirt considering all the high-profile names in the draw. Jannik Sinner would have been one great contender for the teenager, however, he announced his withdrawal after he sustained an ankle injury during his Wimbledon quarter-final match.
Andrey Rublev leads the bottom half of the draw, and he will be looking to repeat history when he won the title in 2020. The Russian starts his campaign in a rather tough first round against Alexander Bublik. However, Bublik is currently competing in the US in the Hall of Fame Tennis Championship, which is a grass court event, so he might have a tough time making his transition to the red dirt in such a short duration.
That doesn’t mean Rublev’s path gets any easier; on the contrary, he will be facing some of the strongest players in his half of the draw with each next contender tougher than the last.
Francisco Cerundolo is another player to look out for who Rublev might be facing in the second round. Francisco has shown his caliber on clay court by winning the Swedish Open. Given that Rublev manages to beat Francisco, Rublev might face the two-time Hamburg Open champion Nikoloz Bashilashvili in the quarter-finals. If Rublev can keep up a consistent form, he might face the third seed Diego Schwartzman in the semi-final and an eventual championship showdown against Carlos Alcaraz.
Projected Quarter-finals:
Carlos Alcaraz vs. Fabio Fognini
Pablo Carreño Busta vs. Holger Rune
Diego Schwartzman vs. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
Andrey Rublev vs. Nikoloz Basilashvili
Projected Semi-finals:
Carlos Alcaraz vs. Pablo Carreño Busta
Diego Schwartzman vs. Andrey Rublev
Projected Finals:
Carlos Alcaraz vs. Andrey Rublev
Projected Winner:
Carlos Alcaraz
The main-draw matches will commence on July 18th (Monday) at 11:00 a.m. local time, and the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will take place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday respectively. The winner of the tournament will be awarded €333,125 and 500 ranking points.
Where to watch?
UK: Amazon Prime Video
USA: Tennis Channel
India: Discovery
Canada: TSN
Australia: beIN Sports
Alternatively, you can watch the live coverage of every match on Tennis TV.
