The ATP 250 European Open, because of its proximity to the ATP Finals in November, has the potential to be one of the most competitive events on tour this season.
The indoor hard court event gets underway on October 17 at Lotto Arena in Antwerp, Belgium. It’s the seventh edition of the tournament.
The Nitto ATP Finals will take place from November 13 to 20 in Turin, Italy, and include the top eight ranked players in the world.
Top Five Seeds
- Carlos Alcaraz
- Rafael Nadal
- Casper Ruud
- Daniil Medvedev
- Stefanos Tsitsipas
Seemingly have their spot secured, but there’s potential for movement in the final three spots.
The European Open betting is taking place at the same time as the Stockholm Open, which includes world No. 8 Taylor Fritz and No. 10 Cameron Norrie, as well as US Open finalist Frances Tiafoe.
European Open Past Winners
A player from France has won three of six European Opens since the tournament’s inception in 2016. Diego Schwartzman, one of the headliners at this year’s tournament, was a runner-up in 2016, 2017, and 2021.
Richard Gasquet defeated Schwartzman in the final of the inaugural event, while Jo-Wilfred Tsonga defeated Schwartzman in the following year’s final.
Englishmen Kyle Edmund and Andy Murray won the event in back-to-back years in 2018 and 2019. Frenchman Ugo Humbert defeated Alex de Minaur to win the 2020 event, while Jannik Sinner is the defending champion.
Headlining This Year’s Tournament
Top Two Seeds
Hubert Hurkacz and Felix Auger-Aliassime are the top two seeds in the tournament, and both players have an opportunity to move up – and possibly into the top eight – in the rankings if they can win the European Open betting.
Both players are always popular tennis betting picks and will need to bring their best in Antwerp.
Quarter-finals
Hurkacz, the world No. 11, is down one spot after losing in the quarter-finals to Stefanos Tsitsipas at the ATP 500 Astana event in Kazakhstan. He’ll be a popular European Open betting pick as one of the favorites.
No. 13
Auger-Aliassime, meanwhile, needs a lot more help to move into the top eight. He’s the world No. 13 and lost his first-round match in Kazakhstan.
He was scheduled to play in the quarter-finals of the Firenze Open on Friday, so it’s possible he will pull out of the European Open if he wins that tournament. However, he’ll need all the rankings points he can get.
Other players in the draw include Schwartzman, Karen Khachanov, Dominic Thiem, and Daniel Evans.
Betting Pick and Potential Wildcard Pick
There are no lines for tennis picks yet, but that doesn’t mean we can’t talk about the favorites and speculate about potential wildcard picks that could make a run in Antwerp.
Auger-Aliassime
Auger-Aliassime should be one of the favorites and has been on the cusp of breaking out seemingly forever, but he has yet to take the next step in his game.
He won his first career tournament earlier this season and is looking to close his year out in a strong way. A victory at the European Open betting might do that.
Still, it’s hard to trust Auger-Aliassime completely. He has all the talent in the world but consistently comes up short when it matters.
European Open Betting Favorite
So, with that in mind, let’s go back to the well and go with Schwartzman. He won’t be the European Open betting favorite, so he’ll likely return decent money should he win.
Schwartzman is a three-time runner-up at the European Open and clearly feels comfortable on the court in Antwerp.
The World No. 18
The world No. 18 doesn’t have momentum on his side – he has lost his last three matches – but a familiar setting should get his game going once again.
The draw is still filling out for the European Open, and several players will advance via qualifiers this weekend, but if we’re looking for a wildcard pick, there’s none better than world No. 41 Yoshihito Nishioka.
Despite losing in the first round of the US Open, the world No. 41 followed that up by defeating Denis Shapovalov in the final of the Korea Open to win his second career ATP title. He also defeated Evans and Ruud en route to the final.
Keep an eye out for betting lines, but we’re going with Schwartzman as the likely winner here and Nishioka as a potential longshot pick.
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