This year’s Hamburg European is certainly going to be a star-studded affair. We have some of the rising stars of tennis battling it out for the coveted prize and the tournament has just begun on July 18.

The ATP 500 tournament will feature stars like Carlos Alcaraz, Andrey Rublev, Diego Schwartzman, Pablo Carreno Busta, Alexander Bublik, and many more. The young Spaniard Alcaraz enters the tournament as the top seed while his compatriot Busta will be hoping to win the tournament for the second time in a row.

The Russian Andrey Rublev missed Wimbledon 2022 as Russian and Belarusian players were banned from the tournament by the officials owing to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He will be in action and looking forward to winning the tournament once again after two years.

Favorites from the top half of the draw: Carlos Alcaraz and Pablo Carreno Busta

Alcaraz has already won four titles this year. He will begin his campaign against Nicola Kuhn. He will face either Sebastian Baez or Filip Krajinovic in the second round. Baez is more likely to progress to the second round. The Argentine has already won the Estoril Open this year.

Alcaraz might face either Karen Khachanov or Fabio Fognini in the quarterfinal. This is only if the Russian can defeat the home favorite Jan-Lennard Struff while Fognini defeats Aljaz Bedene in the first round of matches.

As for Pablo Carreno Busta, he will face qualifier Luca Nardi in the first round. The 31-year-old Spaniard is expected to progress and will face Alex Molcan in round two. Holger Rune will have a tricky test first up as he faces Tallon Griekspoor to kickstart his campaign.

However, we are backing the BMW Open champion to make it through to round two. In the second round, he can come up against either Laslo Djere or Borna Coric. Expecting the former to make progress. Holger Rune versus Laslo Djere would be an interesting contest and I am backing Rune to take the W. The quarterfinals will then have Rune pitted against Busta.

Semifinal prediction and possible winner: Carlos Alcaraz versus Pablo Carreno Busta. Alcaraz to win in three sets.

Favorites from the bottom half of the draw: Andrey Rublev and Diego Schwartzman

The second seed Andrey Rublev will be a strong contender to go all the way. He knows the key to success at this tournament. Finalist in 2019 and one better in 2020. Such records will certainly hold him in good stead and give the talented Russian a great deal of confidence. Rublev will have his task cut out in the first round as he faces 2022 Sud de France Open winner Alexander Bublik.

Rublev’s second-round opponent will be either Francisco Cerundolo or Daniel Altmaier. Cerundolo is the overwhelming favorite to progress to the second round. The Argentine will be high on confidence after having won the recently-concluded Swedish Open. Rublev will have to play a good match to get the win over Cerundolo in the second round.

Nikoloz Basilashvili has also tasted success at this tournament in 2018 and 2019. He will face Aslan Karatsev in round one. The winner of this match will take on Federico Coria. The Argentine Coria will face qualifier Daniel Elahi Galan in the first round. We expect the former to win that match in straight sets to progress to the second round.

Diego Schwartzman will play his first match of the tournament against Emil Ruusuvuori. The Argentine will be the favorite to progress to round two. He could be up against Lorenzo Musetti in the second round. Backing Schwartzman to progress into the quarterfinal.

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina defeated Biotic van de Zandschulp in the first round. He will take on the winner of the match between qualifier Jozef Kovalik and Max Hans Rehberg. Davidovich is likely to progress to the quarterfinals and set up a clash with Diego Schwartzman.

Semifinal prediction and possible winner: Andrey Rublev versus Diego Schwartzman. Rublev to win in three sets.

Prediction of the final and total ATP Prize Money

Carlos Alcaraz is certainly the favorite to bag his fifth title of the year.

For 2022, the total ATP prize money on offer at the Hamburg European Open is €1,770,865, which is a significant 71.8% rise from last year.

This year, the men’s champion in Hamburg will bag themselves €333,125 while the runner-up will earn €178,170.

More Tennis news

• Photos: Rafael Nadal enjoys a much-deserved vacation in Formentera
• Watch: Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic show off their dance skills
• What is Mueller-Weiss syndrome? – The Rare foot condition said to have affected Rafael Nadal

Follow our dedicated Tennis page for instant Tennis news and updates