Celtic vs Besiktas Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview
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Day 2 at ATP Paris brings a fresh batch of first round action as players look to get their campaigns off the ground at the Accor Arena. The indoor hard courts in Paris suit a certain type of aggressive, big hitting tennis, and with the tournament compressed into a single week, there is absolutely no room for slow starts or dropped concentration. Three matches stand out on the schedule today, and all three have something genuinely interesting going on.
These two have never met before on tour, so there is no head to head history to draw on. Gea comes in as a wildcard, which means he gets to play in front of his home crowd in Paris, and that is not something to dismiss lightly. He is a clever counterpuncher who can make life uncomfortable for players who like to go for broke on their groundstrokes, and Struff absolutely fits that profile.
That said, Struff has been in genuinely good form this year and is playing some of the best tennis of his career right now. On these quick indoor courts, his serve and forehand combination is a serious handful. The serve and forehand one two is the kind of weapon that punishes players who sit back and wait, and Gea’s counterpunching style may struggle to get enough of a foothold to do real damage.
These two have split their previous meetings one apiece, so form is going to be the deciding factor here rather than any psychological edge. Berrettini has worked his way back from serious injury troubles and while he is no longer the near Grand Slam finalist he was a few years ago, that serve and forehand still carry real menace on any surface. The problem is his backhand, which has always been the side opponents target, and Nakashima is smart enough to exploit it.
Nakashima had a strong North American hard court summer but his level has dipped somewhat since then. Even so, he is the more complete ball striker in this matchup, with genuine weapons on both wings. In a match where both players serve well, the return games will likely decide things, and Nakashima’s ability to hurt opponents from both sides gives him a meaningful edge over a player whose backhand can get shaky under pressure.
This will be their first meeting on tour. Rune is coming back from an Achilles injury that kept him sidelined for a significant stretch, and his run to the Basel quarterfinals suggested he is finding his feet again. Paris holds special meaning for him given the highlights he produced here earlier in his career, and the motivation to perform well is clearly there.
The issue is Tommy Paul. The American sits in that frustrating category of player who is too good for most of the field but not quite elite enough to win the biggest titles, yet that means he is absolutely lethal in matches like this one. Paul is relentless from the baseline, physically excellent, and will force Rune to prove that his game is back to somewhere near its ceiling. Right now, that is a big ask for someone still shaking off injury rust.
Rune’s time will come again, and Paris in a few months will see him playing a full schedule with proper preparation behind him. Today though, Paul is simply too tough an obstacle for a player still working his way back to full sharpness.
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