Zhizhen Zhang vs Andrey Rublev Prediction: Another Rublev victory?

In the second round of the Astana tournament, Andrei Rublev will face Zhang. The two men have not yet met each other, and bookmakers have little doubt that Rublev will win the title.

The little-known tennis player, who incidentally made it to the main event of the US Open, overcame three qualifying matches but dropped out of the tournament after the first game against Van Rijthoven. Zhang played two matches for the team after Majors, earning two points against Carou and Cuevas of Uruguay. In Astana, before beating Karatsev, the Chinese qualified, defeating Turkey's Ilkel and local player Nedovesov. The match against Karatsev was a three-set affair, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in favor of the Chinese.

Rublev is his first tournament in Kazakhstan since the US Open. In the first round, Andrey beat Serbia's Gyorje in two sets in one hour and 11 minutes (6-4, 6-3). Once again, Rublev and Medvedev are both in contention for a spot in the ATP Open, and the Astana tournament is of the utmost importance as most of his rivals have arrived in Kazakhstan.

Rublev got off to a very confident start in the tournament in Astana. Andrey has prepared well for the end of the season; Rublev will do his best to keep his place in the top eight of the championship race. Currently, Andrey is in the sixth position. Zhang has been doing quite well lately, beating Aslan Karatsev here in Astana. But it's hard to compare Aslan and Andrey in terms of his level, so if Rublev shows at least 80% of his potential in Wednesday's match, it's doubtful that he can win even one set, let alone a match.

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