ATP Tournament in Geneva, Semifinals, Friday, 20.05.2022
The first players have already travelled to Paris to prepare for the French Open 2022. However, not all of them are already in the French capital, but want to grab a quick title in Geneva beforehand.
There will be a semi-final on Friday, and the participants are also expecting a top result at Roland Garros. Read my Opelka Ruud tip to see why I see little chance of a quick, clear result for these two men!
Is it going to be Casper Ruud’s year? The Norwegian is slowly growing out of the shoes of perennial talent and establishing himself among the world’s best. Soon he wants to play a major role at a Grand Slam for the first time.
He is particularly strong on clay, yet he does not want to miss out on an additional boost to his self-confidence from a title in Geneva. Ruud is the defending champion here in Switzerland, and that alone is making the bookies sit up and take notice.
A year ago he beat Tennys Sandgren, Dominik Koepfer, Pablo Andujar and finally Denis Shapovalov, conceding only one set in the entire tournament. Now he is just two wins away from repeating his triumph.
He had started with an easy 6-3, 6-1 against Benoit Paire, but in his second match he had already had much more trouble. Thanasi Kokkinakis proved to be a tough test, and in the end the favourite won narrowly 6-4, 7-6.
90% won points on the first serve, two break chances granted and both fended off – the Norwegian was really strong when serving. A plus point that definitely has to be matched against Reilly Opelka.
After his defeat in the semi-finals in Rome against Novak Djokovic, he does not want to miss out on a place in the final this time. After all, it is against a man who should suit him.
He has met Reilly Opelka three times in the main draw and has won all three duels. Three tiebreaks and only once a win in two sets, they were the expected tough, long duels against the US-American.
The 2.11m tall Opelka has been known for years to hardly let himself be annoyed on his own serve, but to return much worse. To start with, he served 13 aces against Christopher O’Connell, winning 6-3, 7-5.
The famous three-setter came next against Tallon Griekspoor as Opelka snatched a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. 14 aces, 85% won balls on first serve, these stats are reminiscent of Casper Ruud’s recent match.
After the American failed in the 1st round of Geneva in 2021, it is of course already the best performance in this tournament. Whether he has recovered from the disappointment from Rome and the defeat against Stan Wawrinka?
After his tournament win in Houston, he had to cope with being knocked out in a 1st round three times in a row, but now he seems to be on the road to recovery again. But can he really beat Casper Ruud?
My Opelka Ruud tip
Casper Ruud entered Geneva as the absolute top favourite, looking to defend his title this weekend. Somewhat surprisingly, he had to push his limits against Thanasi Kokkinakis
In this respect, my tip is almost self-explanatory, because where Opelka is written on it, there is almost always a close result!
My recommendation: We see more than 21.5 Games!
