BACK-to-back Hamburg European Open winner, Nikoloz Basilashvili will start as an underdog in the ATP 250 tournament with a tough first round match up against fourth seed, Roberto Bautista Agut. The unseeded Georgian is one of only three past winners in the 32-player draw, with Fabio Fognini (2013) and Gilles Simon (2011) the others making the cut.

Fognini takes on German wildcard Philipp Kohlscreiber in the opening round, while Simon was a lucky loser entry, dropping his qualifying match to Pablo Cuevas, only to be called up to take on another qualifier in Jiri Vesely tomorrow. Other qualifiers through to the main draw were Americans Tennys Sandgren and Tommy Paul who both lived up to their top two seedings in the qualifying draw.

Last year, Basilashvili was seeded fourth when he triumphed over Andrey Rublev in the final, 7-5 4-6 6-3 after defeating second seed and German-native Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals. Rublev had shown good form that tournament, knocking off top seed Dominic Thiem, as well as known clay courters, Pablo Carreno Busta and Casper Ruud on his run to the final. The year prior, Basilashvili defeated two-time winner and defending champion, Leonardo Meyer 6-4 0-6 7-5 in a strange final, but was the start of his run to the upper echelon of world rankings, getting through qualifying and going all the way to the final.

This year’s Hamburg European Open is much more stacked than in past years thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, with Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas both entering as top seeds and hoping to have a good run on the clay in the final lead-up tournament to Roland Garros. Medvedev takes on upcoming Frenchman, Ugo Humbert with the world number five yet to tackle the 22-year-old world number 42 on Tour. Tsitsipas takes on world number 33, Daniel Evans, who he defeated easily 6-2 6-3 in the semi-finals at Dubai earlier this year.

If Basilashvili is to upset the world number 10 in Bautista Agut, then the 32nd ranked Georgian will need to back up his form on hard court from Dubai last year, where he beat the Spaniard, 6-7 6-4 6-3 in a come-from-behind win. His previous two matches – including one on the clay at Monte Carlo – both resulted in losses.

Meanwhile reigning finalist Rublev will lock horns with Sandgren in a first round encounter which based on form the Russian should win, whilst Paul will tackle tall South African Kevin Anderson who used his protected ranking to secure his spot. The winner of those gams will face off in the Round of 16.

Looking across the field, a couple of matches that could be exciting include young Chilean Cristian Garin coming up against former top five player Kei Nishikori in his third tournament back from a long-term elbow injury. Also up in the first round, Rome Masters quarter finalist, Dominik Koepfer is firing on all cylinders and keen to back up his form on home soil, with the German taking on Yoshihito Nishioka who upset US Open semi-finalist Carreno Busta last start at Rome.

Other Germans in the field include Jan-Lennard Struff who takes on eighth seed Karen Khachanov, and wildcards Kohlschreiber and Yannick Hanfmann with the latter having a tough first-up match against Gael Monfils. In the only other three Round of 32 matches, Rome Masters semi-finalist Casper Ruud takes on Frenchman Benoit Paire who returns to the Tour after testing positive to COVID-19, Canadian talent Felix Auger-Aliassime takes on Lorenzo Sonego, Frenchman Adrian Mannarino locks horns with Serbian Dusan Lajovic, and in the big clash, Rome Masters finalist Diego Schwartzman might have a quick turnaround if he plays, going up against Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

The turnaround between tournaments has proven fatal for the player’s chances based on form, so Schwartzman and even Ruud will be up against having an impact even being on clay. Medvedev has a good run and a potential quarter final with Fognini is tantalising, whilst if Basilashvili can get past the first round, the Georgian will likely have a repeat of last year’s final against Rublev in the quarter finals. If Monfils plays to his potential he should have no troubles moving through to a semi in his quarter of the draw, while Tsitsipas and Khachanov facing off in the quarters would be a tournament organisers dream.

Prediction: Daniil Medvedev to defeat Gael Monfils in the final.