Second-round motion on the ABN AMRO Open wraps up on Thursday, when Alex de Minaur and Stan Wawrinka take the courtroom. Stefanos Tsitsipas and Botic van de Zandschulp are additionally bidding for a spot within the quarterfinals.
Listed below are my picks for 2 of Thursday’s greatest matchups.
(1) Alex de Minaur vs. Stan Wawrinka De Minaur and Wawrinka might be going head-to-head for the second time of their careers on Thursday. Their solely earlier assembly got here on the crimson clay of Monte-Carlo in 2024, when De Minaur cruised 6-3, 6-0.
Wawrinka is now 40 years outdated and De Minaur has solely improved since their first H2H matchup, however the veteran can’t be solely dismissed. He has already received 5 matches on the ATP degree in 2026 — greater than he did all through the whole thing of final season (4). That features a 6-3, 6-4 defeat fortunate loser Thijs Boogaard on Wednesday. The unhealthy information for Wawrinka is De Minaur stays in stellar type. The world No. 8 is coming off a quarterfinal effort on the Australian Open and he dismissed Arthur Fils 7-6(3), 6-2 within the Rotterdam opening spherical on Tuesday. It also needs to be famous that De Minaur completed runner-up in every of his final two journeys to this occasion.
Decide: De Minaur in 2
Botic van de Zandschulp vs. Stefanos TsitsipasTsitsipas and Van de Zandschulp might be going through one another for the third time of their careers. Each of their earlier conferences have gone Tsitsipas’ means on indoor onerous courts — 7-5, 6-3 in 2023 (Antwerp) and 7-5, 6-4 in 2024 (Basel).
With home-court benefit in Rotterdam, now could possibly be the time for Van de Zandschulp to show the tide in his favor. The world No. 65 is 4-3 thus far this yr and his solely losses are to Alexander Bublik, Novak Djokovic, and Ugo Humbert. BVDZ seems to be enjoying extra impressed tennis beneath new coach Raemon Sluiter, so an upset in entrance of the house crowd wouldn’t come as a significant shock. Tsitsipas regarded respectable sufficient throughout a win over Arthur Rinderknech on Wednesday, however the Thirty second-ranked Greek nonetheless appears to be nicely off the shape he confirmed when he was at his greatest.
Decide: Van de Zandschulp in 3
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and likewise maintains his personal tennis web site, The Grandstand. You possibly can comply with him on Twitter at @Dimonator.
