"I'm going with Holger Rune" - Tennis No. 1 influencer Rachel Stuhlmann feels Dane is dark horse at Australian Open 2023
Tennis' No. 1 influencer, Rachel Stuhlmann, recently said that Holger Rune is her dark horse for the 2023 Australian Open. The American, though, thinks Novak Djokovic will likely end up as the champion.
The year's first Grand Slam starts on Monday (16 January). Both Rune and Djokovic will open their respective campaign on Tuesday against Filip Krajinovic and Roberto Carballes Baena respectively.
Stuhlmann began her 2023 Australian Open predictions by giving her opinion on the chances of the players that feature in Netflix's docuseries 'Break Point.' She reckons Frances Tiafoe and Nick Kyrgios will fancy their chances the most amongst the lot, which also features Matteo Berrettini, Taylor Fritz, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Casper Ruud.
"The Australian Open's finally here and I've got some predictions for you. The players going deep in the draw I'm going with the Netflix featured stars specifically Tiafoe and Kyrgios - they're at the centre of the world's attention and (are) playing and probably feeling pretty hot right now," Rachel Stuhlmann began while speaking on her Instagram Story.
The American then named Holger Rune as her dark horse, citing the Dane's impressive wins over Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz at last year's Paris Masters.
"For dark horse, I'm going with Holger Rune. I saw some big wins against Novak and Carlos Alcaraz at Paris. I think he's gonna have some big wins down under," she stated.
Nevertheless, Stuhlmann reckons Djokovic remains the man to beat, adding that the Serb would be hungry to win the title after being denied the chance last year, after being deported due to his visa fiasco.
"Now for the champion - when these draws first came out, part of me wanted to go crazy and go all in on a player like Medvedev or Tsitsipas but I gotta go with the gut here. I'm going with Novak - he's fresh off a title and probably pretty hungry to play the Australian (Open) considering he didn't play it last year," Rachel Stuhlmann concluded.
Djokovic is looking to win his tenth Australian Open title.
Rachel Stuhlmann explains why Iga Swiatek is favourite to win Australian Open 2023
On the women's side, Rachel Stuhlmann expects Iga Swiatek to be crowned the champion at the 2023 Australian Open.
"Aside from being the No. 1 seed, here's three reasons why Iga Swiatek's the favorite to win the Australian Open," Rachel Stuhlmann began.
Stuhlmann began by pointing out how Swiatek would be itching to regain her form after suffering a thumping 6-2, 6-2 loss against Jessica Pegula at the United Cup:
"After having one of the worst losses of her career last week, I think she's gonna come back with a chip on her shoulder and hungry to win," she stated.
Stressing how Swiatek is utterly dominant in return games, the American asserted that the former's 'multidimensional game' is tailor-made to succeed in the conditions on offer.
"In the last year, she's won over 50% of her return points, consistently putting pressure on her opponents serve. And finally she's got a multidimensional game, it works really well on a fast surface, which is a deadly combo in the Australian heat," she concluded.
Swiatek reached the semifinals at Melbourne Park last year.