Holger Rune vs Alexandre Muller Tips, Prediction & Live Stream - Rune to prevail in Washington opener

It's been a wildly inconsistent season for Rune - he's beaten Carlos Alcaraz to win the Barcelona title and also finished runner-up at the Indian Wells Masters, but he's also suffered six opening round exits. What Rune will turn up in the American capital this week?

After working with the legendary Andre Agassi - who win five of his 60 career titles in Washington - in an intense three-day training block prior to the tournament, I'm willing to bet Rune gives this tournament a very good crack. The Dane is way too good to not be challenging for these types of titles and I think he will be too strong for Muller, who was on a five-match losing streak before arriving in Washington. It might be a slow start though - Rune has gone the distance in four of his last five best-of-three matches, while he also went to a deciding fifth set in his Wimbledon clash with Nico Jarry. Another three-set encounter here wouldn't be surprising.

This will be the first tour-level meeting between the pair.

Rune comes into this showdown with a 22-14 record on the season, with 10 of those victories coming at two tournaments.

Indeed, Rune captured the ATP 500 title in Barcelona with a win over Alcaraz in the final, while he also enjoyed a run to the Indian Wells Masters final, where he was upstaged by Jack Draper.

Throw in fourth round appearances at both the Australian Open and Roland Garros, and 18 of Rune's 22 wins have been at those four tournaments, illustrating just how much he has been struggling for motivation/form at other events.

After a first round exit at Wimbledon to qualifier Nicolas Jarry, Rune has made moves to raise his level, linking up with Agassi ahead of his Washington campaign - we'll see over the coming week if that decision pays dividends.

Muller heads into this encounter with a solid 18-16 record on the season, but most of his good work came in the opening couple of months of the year.

Indeed, Muller became the first player in ATP history to win a title by winning five straight matches in a deciding set, which saw him capture his maiden tour-level silverware in Hong Kong to launch 2025.

The Frenchman also made the final of the ATP 500 Rio Open, along with a third round in Madrid and quarter-final in Hamburg.

However, Muller's form dipped after that, losing five consecutive matches before Washington, where he returned to the winners circle with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Beibit Zhukayev.