Belga / Icon Sport

Roberto Bautista Agut vs Luca van Assche: ATP Antwerp – First round

Veteran Roberto Bautista Agut will take on Luca van Assche in the opening round of the ATP Antwerp.

Roberto Bautista Agut Profile

Former world No. 9 Roberto Bautista Agut is 60th in the rankings. The Spaniard is 31-26 for the season and 11-13 on hard surface.

He is coming off a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 loss to Roberto Carballes Baena in the opening round in Shanghai.

Agut’s best results this season were the quarterfinals in Hong Kong, Bordeaux and Mallorca.

This is his second appearance in Anrwerp after reaching the round of 16 in 2021.

Luca van Assche Profile

Lucca van Assche is 119th in the ATP rankings and his career high was No. 63 on the world. The Frenchman is 31-31 for the season and 15-15 on hard surface.

Van Assche had to go through the qualifiers and matches against Jelle Sels and Alex Marti Pujolras to reach the main draw in Antwerp. Last week, he lost in the semifinals of the Roanne Challenger to Benjamin Bonzi, which was his third semifinal of the season after reaching the same stage in Heilbronn and Phoenix.

This is his second appearance in Antwerp after losing in the first round in 2022.

Head-to-Head

This will be the first match between Roberto Bautista Agut and Luca van Assche.

Prediction and Conclusion

This will be a match between two players born 16 years apart. Bautista Agut is getting closer to the end of his career, while van Assche is trying to get back among the top 100 players. The 20-year-old looked like one of the best players from the new generation, but it is a fact that he doesn’t develop as expected. He has a busy schedule and is eager to make some noise on the ATP tour and will have a chance to do that against the veteran. Bautista Agut has many ups and downs this season, which is understandable for a player at that stage of his career. The Spaniard knows every trick in the book, but the younger player will be the one to advance to the next round.