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Rufin's first indoor match of the season

The Frenchman forfeited at his last two tournaments, and we still haven't seen him play indoors this season. This is the surface where he played the least in his career, whereas Berrer can be labelled an indoor specialist. But the German hasn't had a ball recently either

Berrer had a decent season opener and demonstrated at his favourite Heilbronn tournament that he plays his best tennis indoors. His best career results were achieved at that surface, he even reached ATP finals there, and he is especially good at this "veteran" stage, since he doesn't expend so much here. 

However, after the aforementioned tournament, he didn't stay healthy for long, and practically the whole rest of the season was hit by injuries. He forfeited three matches, one every three months on average and it was hard to get a constant run in these conditions. So the end result is a poor season in which he didn't manage to get three wins in a row at a single event. That failure was reflected on his ranking as well so he is now out of the Top 150.

His last forfeit came in mid-July in his home Stuttgart (clay). He was very disappointed after that:

- I am sorry it all ended like this, especially since a lot of my friends came here. I am hoping for a quick recovery - complained the German, but his wish didn't come true. 

New back problems caused him to be absent for another two months, and his return corresponded with the arrival of indoor tournaments. His long absence was visible there and we can say we were expecting more of him at the first three tournaments. He lost twice in the qualifiers, and he managed to get only one challenger win. His last appearance were the Mons qualifiers, where he was eliminated in the last round by the home player Authom, even though Berrer won more points in the match. 

Rufin had physical issues lately as well, and it all started at the last Grand Slam of the season.

- I stopped after the first set after sensing I wasn't feeling at my best. It was a precaution measure as I felt muscle ache and I would definitely have lost under such circumstances. I am happy with how I played lately and I am hoping for a succesful season end - said the Frenchman after conceding to Tursunov in the US Open second round. 

He returned to tennis three weeks later, back to clay courts, which was a bit unexpected. That wasn't a good move so his next forfeit happened at the second round of the Trnava challenger. This time he complained of back injury, which demanded a three-week recovery period. 

His new comeback is scheduled for this tournament and it should definitely be observed more closely as he didn't play indoors yet this season. He has had the least success in his career on this surface as he has 7 wins in 19 matches. 

This is Rufin's first indoor match of the season, and he's never been a fan of this form of tennis, winning only seven indoor matches in his career. Since he's coming to this tournament after a three-week absence, due to back problems, and he had to retire at his last tournament (US Open), his physical fitness is questionable. On the other hand, Berrer seems to have healed, and even though he wasn't successful at the start of his indoor season, he can certainly do better. He's an indoor specialist, with ATP-level finals in his career. I'm choosing this bet for several reasons. Firstly, another retirement by the Frenchman after the first set is possible (it happened at his last two tournaments). Secondly, there's the adaptation period to the conditions he doesn't like. Berrer has played seven indoor matches this season, after all, and I expect him to start the match better, and later anything could happen.