Andrey Rublev faces tough Bastad opener vs Andrea Pellegrino on 16 July

Andrey Rublev opens his ATP Bastad campaign on Wednesday, 16 July, against Italy’s Andrea Pellegrino in a first-round match at the Swedish clay event.

What’s at stake for Rublev in Bastad?

Rublev, the 2023 Bastad champion, arrives in Sweden after a patchy 2026 clay swing. The 16th-ranked Russian has 23 wins and 15 losses this season, with no titles to show for his efforts. His best clay results were a runner-up finish in Barcelona and a quarterfinal run in Rome, but consistency has been a problem. After a first-round Wimbledon exit to Roman Safiullin, Rublev hasn’t played in over two weeks. As the top seed, he skips the opening round and starts directly in the second round.

How does Rublev stack up against Pellegrino?

Pellegrino, ranked 138th, has spent most of 2026 on clay and enters in form. The Italian has 25 wins on the surface this year, including a fourth-round run at the Rome Masters. In Bastad, he eased past qualifier Kieran Budkov with a 6-3, 6-2 scoreline, winning 75% of first-serve points and breaking four times. His patient game thrives in long rallies, and he forces errors from opponents. Rublev’s power game-especially his forehand-can dominate when he’s sharp, but unforced errors and emotional lapses have cost him this season.

What do the betting markets say?

Head-to-head history is blank. The betting angles skew toward Pellegrino in the second set: he’s won the second set in six of the last seven matches he’s played. The over/under markets also favor the Italian-he’s gone over 10.5 games in seven straight matches. Rublev’s under-the-radar trends are stark: he’s gone under 12.5 games in six of his last seven matches, and set totals under 2.5 and game totals under 21.5 have both hit in six of his last seven outings.

Where and when can fans watch?

The ATP Bastad matches air live on 1xBet’s website and mobile app. Rublev’s second-round match is scheduled for Wednesday, 16 July, with exact timing dependent on the day’s schedule.