Nicolas Moreno de Alboran vs Geoffrey Blancaneaux Prediction, Picks, Odds, H2H, August 2nd

The first of our previews from the world of men’s tennis comes from the ATP Challenger Tour’s Svijany Open in Liberec, Czechia. Let’s break down Nicolas Moreno de Alboran vs Geoffrey Blancaneaux.

Blancaneaux’s win probability is only 36.5%, while Moreno de Alboran is favoured to win at 1.49 odds. The handicap is 3.5 games and the total games line is 22.5.

Our Moreno de Alboran vs Blancaneaux prediction is for Moreno de Alboran to cruise.

Nicolas Moreno de Alboran vs Geoffrey Blancaneaux Prediction

• Prediction: Moreno de Alboran -3 Games & Moreno de Alboran -3.5 Games
• Best Odds: 1.86 & 2.00
• Bookmaker: Pinnacle
• Stakes: 4/10 & 4/10

Odds updated at 10:00 pm UK Time on August 1st, 2024. 

Much like our other preview from the Challenger Tour for Friday’s action (which you can find over on the expert insights page), this is simply a match between two players in different leagues.

Moreno de Alboran, for my money, is a top tier Challenger level guy, especially at altitude, while the underpowered Frenchman has never really done all that much at any level and has fallen to outside the top-250 entering this week.

His lack of power or ability to really dictate play – even at this lower level – means it’s really tough for him to win matches like…well this one. He won’t have the better serve, he won’t have the better forehand, he won’t be better at using spin to his advantage and he doesn’t have the weapons to hold his opponent off in his own service games.

I have Moreno de Alboran as a 4-4.5 game favourite, even at a bit of altitude, and am happy to bet a number like -3 in this spot.

Nicolas Moreno de Alboran Recent Form

From Marrakech to the last few weeks on the main circuit in Gstaad and Kitzbuhel, Moreno de Alboran has gotten in his fair share of clay court tennis played at a bit of altitude.

Other than an odd pair of losses in Romania at Challengers, he’s actually played pretty well of late. His last three losses are all to tough main tour competition with big serves that are tough to play in altitude and most of his wins since Wimbledon have been by an impressive margin and in straight sets.

I think these kinds of weeks with watered down draws are where the American can really do some damage. He has a very heavy forehand that he can also hit with decent pace and a strong serve that is even tougher to return in altitude.

Those tour level losses the last few weeks? To Matteo Berrettini, Yannick Hanfmann and Quentin Halys. Only the last one was lost by a margin of more than a single break of serve. Even against tougher opponents, Moreno de Alboran has managed to rack up service holds with relative ease.

Sure, Liberec isn’t quite as high up as Gstaad or Kitzbuhel, but if I were him I’d rather play Blancaneaux at about 375 metres of elevation rather than those three at 1,000 metres or higher.

Geoffrey Blancaneaux Recent Form

Blancaneaux has rolled through his first two matches this week, and that’s likely the reason we’re seeing money trickle in on him at the time of writing. I simply don’t trust his quality against better opposition though. He crushed young gun Matej Dodig, who didn’t look right and then Marvin Moller, who has very little to his game, as I observed watching a few of his matches last week.

Other than that and some upsets in Zug, the former French Open junior champion has looked pretty poor on his preferred clay courts. He retired once in May and once more in June and has been dispatched with ease by some guys who have never even sniffed the top-150 in the world rankings.

He’s too often at his opponent’s mercy, hoping to coax errors from them in prolonged rallies. Perhaps his game plays up a bit at altitude and that’s why we saw him play some decent tennis in Zug and to start this week, but this opponent is another level and I’m expecting him to revert to the underpowered player that can be too easily pushed around.

Nicolas Moreno de Alboran vs Geoffrey Blancaneaux H2H – Stat of the Match

This is the first meeting between these two.

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