Hubert Hurkacz will be looking for another title on Sunday. He will face Felix Auger-Aliassime at the 2023 ATP Basel tennis event this weekend in the tournament’s championship match. This is a final match at the 2023 Swiss Indoors Basel tournament that is intriguing. Hurkacz recently won the Shanghai Masters but Auger-Aliassime is the defending champion in Basel. My Hurkacz vs Auger-Aliassime prediction is that the former will win to claim another title on tour.
Schedule of Play: Right-click/Open in the New Tab to check match times: subject to change
Hubert Hurkacz vs Felix Auger-Aliassime Head-to-Head Series
These two players have met three times in the past. Auger-Aliassime holds a 2-1 winning record against Hurkacz. But none of their matches took place this season.
Their most recent match was a competitive one in 2022. Hurkacz defeated Auger-Aliassime 7-6, 7-6 in a grass-court match in Halle last season. Their other matches are from 2021 and 2019, with Auger-Aliassime claiming both. The Canadian has won the only match that they have played on the hard-court surface. However, the upcoming final from Basel will be the first time that the two players will meet in an indoor event.
Recent Form for the Finalists
Hurkacz enters the final in much better short-term form than Auger-Aliassime. In fact, this current tournament is the only significant result the Canadian has had in ages on tour. I’m surprised that he made the final in Basel this week.
Hurkacz is not in bad form at all. The only match he has lost in recent weeks came in the Tokyo draw, a match he lost in a third-set tiebreaker. He entered that match on little rest after winning the Shanghai Masters.
But Hurkacz has almost gone out in each of the last two rounds. He beat Ugo Humbert in the semifinals by the minimum in a third-set tiebreaker. Previously, Hurkacz played three sets against Tallon Griekspoor in the quarterfinals. You wouldn’t quite say that Hurkacz has walked a tightrope to the final but in each of his last two matches, there were some critical periods where he easily could have gone out of the event with just a bad patch.
It’s hard to know what to make of Auger-Aliassime’s run in Basel this week. He did beat Holger Rune in the semifinals, in fact, it was a very one-sided match. Auger-Aliassime won 60% of the points in the contest. However, Rune has slumped lately as well.
In the top half of the Basel draw, the biggest threat ahead of the tournament seemed to be Taylor Fritz. The American crashed out in a really tough match in the second round with someone else besides Auger-Aliassime doing the tough work.
The Draw: Right-click/Open in the New Tab for the draw for the 2023 Swiss Indoors Basel
Hurkacz vs Auger-Aliassime Prediction: Hurkacz wins
I think the entire top half of the draw lacked an in-form top player this week in Basel. Auger-Aliassime is playing well but I don’t think he’s playing at the same level as Hurkacz. At -150 on Hurkacz (bet365), I think bettors should be happy to oppose the Canadian in the final.
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