Tomas Berdych vs Julien Benneteau Tennis Prediction
Playing his first grass tournament of the season, Julien Benneteau defeated Simone Bolelli and last week’s (Hertogenbosch) quarterfinalist Mackenzie McDonald to progress into the main draw of ATP London.
The Frenchman has appeared here 11 times in the past and reaching the round of 16 on three occasions is his best result in this tournament. First round exit has been his most frequent result here having suffered such defeats on five occasions.
Julien Benneteau, who will most probably retire from tennis at the end of this season, is yet to win a main draw match in a non-slam tour-level event since beating Malek Jaziri and Roberto Bautista Agut at ATP Marseille in February 2018.
Tomas Berdych snapped his five-match losing streak by scoring a hard-fought straight set win over Benoit Paire in the opening round (R16) of ATP Stuttgart last week but lost the following match to Milos Raonic in straight sets.
Apart from losing his first round match to Max Mirnyi on his debut here in 2005, the Czech #1 has managed to reach the quarterfinal in the other three appearances, in 2017, 2014 and 2013.
Former world #4 Tomas Berdych has always done well on grass throughout his career with his best result being a runner-up finish at Wimbledon in 2010, where he defeated Roger Federer in the quarterfinal and Novak Djokovic in the semifinal.
Tomas Berdych leads the H2H 4-1, but their H2H on grass is tied at 1-1. The Czech will start as the favorite, but his current form should give some encouragement for Julien Benneteau, who can be a difficult player to play against on a good day.
Tennis Prediction: Tomas Berdych
Odds: 1.42
