Vienna 2020: Andrey Rublev vs Jannik Sinner preview, head-to-head & prediction | Erste Bank Open

Match details

Fixture: Andrey Rublev vs Jannik Sinner

Date: 29 October 2020

Tournament: Erste Bank Open 2020

Round: Second round (Round of 16)

Venue: Vienna, Austria

Category: ATP 500

Surface: Indoor hardcourt

Prize money: €1,409,510

Match timing: Not before 4 pm local time, 8.30 pm IST

Live telecast: USA - ESPN / Tennis Channel | India - Sony ESPN

Andrey Rublev vs Jannik Sinner preview

Andrey Rublev, the St. Petersburg champion from a couple of weeks ago, seems to have carried his form into the Austrian capital.

Rublev, a quarterfinalist in Vienna last year, started off with a straight-sets win over the Slovakian qualifier Norbert Gombos. He was absolutely clinical in the match and showed very little signs of fatigue despite his busy last few weeks.

The Russian is now set to face a big test in the second round, in the form of Italian teenager Jannik Sinner - a wildcard and popular dark horse at this year's tournament.

Jannik Sinner

Sinner has been drawing a lot of attention in recent times, and there's good reason for that. The 19-year-old has shown a lot of promise in the few matches that he has played in his young career, causing trouble to even the biggest stars.

Following a slow start to the season, Sinner really came into own at the resumption of the tour in August. He has since made the quarterfinals of the last two tournaments, including the French Open where he lost a well-fought match to Rafael Nadal.

Sinner has also accumulated wins over other big names, including Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Andrey Rublev vs Jannik Sinner head-to-head

Andrey Rublev is fresh off winning a title in St. Petersburg.

The two fellow Next Gen stars have never crossed paths on the senior tour before, so their current head-to-head stands at 0-0.

Andrey Rublev vs Jannik Sinner prediction

A tough one to call, this match could well be decided by the smallest of margins. Both Andrey Rublev and Jannik Sinner enjoy dictating play from the baseline, so we can expect an intense battle for the control of that part of the court.

Even so, there aren't likely to be too many long rallies in the match. And with both men looking to play at similar levels of intent, it will be a question of who is able to execute their game better on the given day.

The unforced errors will be key as neither would be keen on conceding too much ground, especially on serve.

Rublev has the advantage of not having lost a match in nearly two weeks now. He will be high on confidence, which could be a big boost to his gung-ho style of tennis.

Sinner will offer stiff resistance, but the teenager might not have all the answers to Rublev's game just yet.

Prediction: Andrey Rublev to win in three sets.