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Match Details
Fixture: Denis Shapovalov vs (WC) Jurij Rodionov.
Tournament: Erste Bank Open 2022.
Round: First round (Round of 32).
Venue: Vienna, Austria.
Category: ATP 500.
Surface: Indoor hardcourt.
Prize money: €2,349,180.
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | Canada - TSN | UK - Amazon Prime.
Denis Shapovalov vs Jurij Rodionov preview
Denis Shapovalov will square off against home favorite Jurij Rodionov in the first round of the 2022 Erste Bank Open.
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Shapovalov has had a rather up-and-down season. He started strong by leading Canada to the ATP Cup title and reaching the last eight at the Australian Open. Following his semifinal exit from the Dubai Tennis Championships, he didn't win back-to-back matches until the Italian Open, where he reached the quarterfinals by defeating Rafael Nadal.
The Canadian then lost in the first round of his next five tournaments. He snapped his losing streak by defeating Arthur Rinderknech in the first round of Wimbledon. However, he lost to Brandon Nakashima after that. His results in the lead-up to the US Open were decent and made it to the third round in New York as well.
The 23-year-old reached his first final of the year at the Korea Open, but lost to Yoshihito Nishioka. The following week, he made it to the semifinals of the Japan Open. He competed in the Stockholm Open last week, but lost to Alex de Minaur in the quarterfinals.
Rodionov has competed in just three tournaments on the ATP tour this year. He made it to the second round of the Dallas Open and the Kitzbuhel Open. He also participated in the Stuttgart Open, but lost in the first round. Representing Austria in the Davis Cup, he won two of his three singles ties this season.
The 23-year-old has performed better on the Challenger circuit, winning a couple of titles so far. He won his first title at the Biel/Bienne Challenger in March and followed it up by winning the Mauthausen Challenger in his native Austria in May.
Denis Shapovalov vs Jurij Rodionov head-to-head
Rodionov leads Shapovalov 1-0 in the head-to-head. He won their previous encounter at the 2020 Erste Bank Open in straight sets.
Denis Shapovalov vs Jurij Rodionov odds
All odds are sourced from BetMGM.
Denis Shapovalov vs Jurij Rodionov prediction
After a few rough months, Shapovalov has begun playing well once again. His results in his last three tournaments have been decent and he'll look to keep it up. Two years ago, Rodionov stunned the Canadian in the first round of this very tournament. He'll be looking to draw inspiration from that match in an attempt to replicate the result.
However, that might prove to be slightly difficult to do this time around. Shapovalov's loss against de Minaur last week wasn't encouraging as he reverted to making some avoidable errors that had been missing from his game for a while. This is a great opportunity for him to reset, but he'll have to be at his best to avoid losing to the Austrian yet again.
Rodionov has a pretty good serve, though Shapovalov has the edge in this department. He's the better shotmaker and when fully focused, his backhand is among the best on the tour. The Canadian has been quite consistent in recent weeks and is likely to kick off his campaign in Vienna with a win.
Pick: Denis Shapovalov to win in straight sets.
