Felix Auger-Aliassime, who I am going to nickname “Pocket Aces” in my match previews from now on, will face Jan-Lennard Struff at the 2023 ATP Paris tennis event this week. This will be a first-round match in the tournament, a match that will be played on Tuesday. For those following A-A in Canada, look for an early start time of about 9 AM ET. My Auger-Aliassime vs Struff prediction for this match at the 2023 Rolex Shanghai Masters is that Struff will cause an upset.
Order of Play: Right-click/Open in the New Tab to check match times: subject to change
Felix Auger-Aliassime: New Nickname Explained
“Pocket Aces” is a poker term that players of No Limit Hold’em will recognize as the best starting hand. The abbreviation for “Pocket Aces” is AA, which is pretty close to the abbreviation I use for Auger-Aliassime (ie. “A-A”). Whenever I use that abbreviation for him, I think of the rockets. The term “aces” certainly fits with tennis terminology as well and Auger-Aliassime fires up his share of service winners.
Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Jan-Lennard Struff Head-to-Head Series
These two players have met twice before in the past. However, neither of their matches has come in recent seasons. They split two matches in 2020, results that need not be considered too much. Rather it’s better to look at Pocket Aces’ recent form.
Auger-Aliassime is coming off of a title from Basel last week. He played a five-match tournament with eleven sets. In the final, he beat Hubert Hurkacz to claim the Basel title. Beating Hurkacz these days is certainly easier said than done. Struff was in the same tournament and he lost to Hurkacz early. That will have many thinking that Pocket Aces will not get cracked in the upcoming match.
The Draw: Right-click/Open in the New Tab for the draw for the 2023 Rolex Paris Masters
Auger-Aliassime vs Struff Prediction: Struff wins
However, Struff at +175 is not a bad pick (bet365). Firstly, Basel is the only tournament that A-A has played well in for ages.
Secondly, last season when Auger-Aliassime won in Basel, he had a first-round bye in Paris the next week. That certainly would have helped him recover from his efforts in Switzerland. Nonetheless, A-A almost went out in the second round of the event to Mikael Ymer. Without the bye this season, Aliassime is playing on short rest, and that makes him vulnerable to an upset. My recommendation for this match is to take Struff to win at +175 on the moneyline. I am expecting A-A to have less energy for this tournament than he did last season.
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