Hamburg Open 2025 Day 5: Men's singles predictions ft. Andrey Rublev vs Luciano Darderi
Players will get ready to battle it out in the quarterfinals on Day 5 of the Hamburg Open 2025 on Thursday, May 22. Top seed Alexander Zverev was bundled out in the second round by Alexandre Muller. He put up a commendable fight but lost the match 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (5).
Zverev attributed the loss to not feeling his best physically. He was severely ill the night before, throwing up multiple times and dealing with a high fever. Second seed Frances Tiafoe was also shown the door in the second round by veteran Roberto Bautista Agut.
Players are now just a few wins away from heading into the French Open with a confidence-boosting title. With their eyes on the prize, they will be keen to clear the quarterfinal hurdle on Thursday. On that note, here are the predictions for three of the quarterfinal matches set for Day 5 of the Hamburg Open 2025:
#1. Andrey Rublev vs Luciano Darderi
Rublev dropped out of the top 10 of the rankings after failing to defend his Madrid Open title. He also left the Italian Open without a win and arrived at the Hamburg Open on a three-match losing streak. He snapped his losing skid with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Damir Dzumhur in his opener.
Rublev faced home favorite Justin Engel in the second round and beat him 6-3, 7-5. Darderi kicked off his campaign here with a comfortable 6-1, 6-4 win over Diedo Dedura. He upset seventh seed Brandon Nakashima in the second round, earning a hard-fought 7-5, 6-7 (7), 6-2 win.
This will be the first career meeting between them. Both have an identical 13-11 record for the season following their latest wins. However, Darderi has a 12-6 record on clay, including a title, while Rublev has put together a 4-4 record on the red dirt.
Even though Rublev has struggled to get going on clay this year, Darderi's poor record against top 20 players doesn't instill confidence in his chances of success. He has a 0-9 record against top 20 opponents, and he has lost eight of those matches in straight sets. Seven of those losses came on clay as well. Thus, the Russian will be favored to come out on top in this encounter despite his underwhelming results on clay so far.
Predicted winner: Andrey Rublev
#2. Flavio Cobolli vs Roberto Bautista Agut
Bautista Agut beat a couple of Americans, Marcos Giron and second seed Tiafoe, to make the quarterfinals of the Hamburg Open. The Spaniard's win over the latter marked his first triumph against a top 20 player on clay since July 2014, finally snapping his 29-match losing streak against them on the surface more than a decade later.
Bautista Agut also won back-to-back matches on clay for the first time this year and improved his record on the surface to 6-5. Cobolli rallied from a set down to beat Vitaliy Sachko in the first round and followed it up with a 6-4, 7-5 win over fifth seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the second round. His record on clay now stands at 9-4. He won the title in Bucharest a few weeks ago.
This will be the first career meeting between them. Even though he has won a title on clay, the surface has usually been Bautista Agut's kryptonite, unlike other Spanish players. This has been especially true over the last few years. He has scored more than five wins on the red dirt for the first time since 2022.
Cobolli started his clay swing with a title but hasn't maintained the same level of consistency since then. However, considering their results on the surface this year, the young Italian will be the favorite to continue his run at the Hamburg Open.
Predicted winner: Flavio Cobolli
#3. Tomas Martin Etcheverry vs Jiri Lehecka
Etcheverry beat his compatriots Francisco Comesana and Camilo Ugo Carabelli to make the last eight at the Hamburg Open. He has won consecutive matches for the second time this year and improved his record on clay this season to 7-8.
Lehecka was on a three-match losing streak prior to the Hamburg Open. He needed three sets to dispatch Borna Gojo in the first round and then upset fourth seed Francisco Cerundolo in straight sets in the second round. This has been his best result of the clay swing so far. While he has a 16-9 record for the year, he has gone 3-3 on clay so far.
Lehecka won his only previous encounter against Etcheverry at the Swedish Open 2022, a clay court event, in straight sets. He seems to be rounding into form after underperforming on the red dirt in recent weeks. Even though his opponent has more wins on clay compared to him, the Czech's overall consistency tips the scales in his favor.
Predicted winner: Jiri Lehecka