The National Bank Open round of 16 begins on Saturday, and two games from the Toronto draw have my attention.
The pregame narrative: Holger Rune has looked sharp through two rounds and has value to breeze past Alexei Popyrin, who is having a down year. After that, I expect Francisco Cerundolo to give top-seeded Alexander Zverev everything he can handle.
Check out my top National Bank Open predictions for Aug. 2.
National Bank Open predictions
Best bet: Rune -3 games (-106)
Rune started his career as a clay court specialist, but the 22-year-old is finding a groove on outdoor hard courts.
He’s 33-16 since the start of 2023, reaching the Indian Wells final this year while beating names like Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets.
And Rune’s recent partnership with the legendary Andre Agassi has me thinking the Dane can elevate his game to another level.
“It was insane. I’ve never met a guy who sees tennis that way, and I found it interesting … he makes things simple on the court,” Rune said of Agassi, who helped train him ahead of the National Bank Open.
The early results have been encouraging — a pair of straight-set wins over the hard-serving Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and No. 29-seeded Alexandre Muller. Rune covered a -3.5 spread in both of those matches.
Popyrin just beat an out-of-form Medvedev, but the Australian entered this tournament having lost five of his last six matches.
I think Rune can finish this one quickly.
Key stat: Popyrin is 4-7 on hard courts this year.
Quick pick
Zverev/Cerundolo over 22.5 games (-112): Zverev might be the tournament’s top seed, but things haven’t come easy so far.
He needed a tiebreak and 23 games to beat wild-card Adam Walton (ATP No. 88) in the first round, and it took three sets to down Matteo Arnaldi (No. 41) in the round of 32.
Cerundolo is a rising star and is one of the few players who can say he’s undefeated against the German superstar.
The Argentine has a 3-0 record against Zvervev. While all of those victories were on clay, Cerundolo knows he’s capable of pulling off an upset.
Cerundolo is 10-3 on hard courts since the start of the Australian Open, with two of his three losses going over this game total.
National Bank Open predictions made at 12:00 p.m. on 08/02/2025.
Avery joined NorthStar Gaming as an intern in 2022 before stepping into a full-time role soon after. He loves betting on and analyzing golf — mainly because it’s easier than actually playing — but is a fan of all sports, from the NFL to the UFC.