Qualifying gets underway at Eastbourne, and we've got three picks from today's first-round matches on the grass. A couple of these could go either way, and there's at least one result here that might raise some eyebrows.
Lexus Eastbourne Open Predictions
Yannick Hanfmann vs Adolfo Daniel Vallejo
Head-to-head: First meeting
Hanfmann has always been a decent grass court player, big serve and flat groundstrokes that travel through the surface nicely, and at 59 in the world he's the higher-ranked player here by a margin that matters. Vallejo sits at 71 and is a qualifier himself, so it's not as if there's a huge gulf, but Hanfmann's game should translate better on this surface and I think he'll be the more comfortable player in the big moments.
These three-setters in qualifying rounds can be scrappy, and Vallejo won't just roll over, but Hanfmann should still find a way to get through here.
Prediction: Hanfmann in 3
Marcos Giron vs Charles Broom
Head-to-head: First meeting
This is the interesting one. Giron is ranked 86th and Broom sits way back at 273, so on paper it's no contest, but Broom is a British wild card playing on home grass, and that combination shouldn't be underestimated in qualifying. Grass is genuinely a surface where ranking matters less and local experience counts for more and Broom will have a crowd behind him.
Giron hasn't built his ranking on grass results, and I feel like Broom makes enough of his home advantage to nick this one in three sets.
Prediction: Broom in 3
Hamish Stewart vs Aleksandar Vukic
Head-to-head: First meeting
Vukic is ranked 98th and is the higher-ranked player by a wide margin, so picking Stewart here needs some justification. Same logic as above applies though, Stewart is another British player at a home grass event, and qualifying on this surface really does level things out faster than on hardcourt or clay. Vukic's game is solid but not particularly grass-suited, and Stewart at 301 in the world, still very much a professional with real experience on these courts, is capable of making this uncomfortable. That said, the ranking gap is real and Vukic remains the favourite going in.
Stewart takes it in three.
Prediction: Stewart in 3
For full predictions on ATP and WTA matches today, check out Uppset.
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