ATP Finals in Turin, Preliminary Round, Matchday 3, Friday
Is there any way to stop Novak Djokovic? After missing out on the Grand Slam, the world number 1 seems to be preparing to at least sweep the ATP Finals as a “consolation prize”. The final will be played on Sunday.
Before that, the third match in the preliminary round is still on the agenda. In the Djokovic group, both Andrey Rublev and Casper Ruud want to reach the semi-finals. Can I confirm the bookmakers’ predictions that the Russian will emerge as the winner?
Two days of matches, two eliminations, two advancers and a former champion who is unimpressed by it all – the ATP Finals so far are making headlines not only on the court.
In the group that also includes Olympic champion Alexander Zverev, Matteo Berrettini had to retire. Italian remains, as Jannik Sinner has taken his place. There was also an exchange in the so-called green group.
Stefanos Tsitsipas withdrew, handed over to Cameron Norrie. This turmoil is immensely important for the further course of the tournament. Novak Djokovic leads this group by a superior margin, but is still waiting to see who will join him in the semi-finals.
Andrey Rublev and Casper Ruud will face each other on Friday. Both have one win and one loss on their record, so whoever wins the head-to-head duel will advance to the last four.
Rublev, who is playing his second finals after 2020, won 6-4, 6-4 against Stefanos Tsitsipas. A little later, however, he was completely without a chance against Djokovic, losing 3-6, 2-6 very clearly.
While he won an unbelievable 90% of his first serve against Tsitsipas, it was not even 60% against Djokovic! A year ago, Rublev lost to Rafael Nadal and Stefanos Tsitsipas, and his subsequent win against Dominic Thiem came to nothing.
As strong as his 2021 was, in the final phase he doesn’t seem to have the very last grains left. At his home tournament in St. Petersburg, he lost to top seed Botic van de Zandschulp, and later in Paris he was eliminated in the 1st round.
Since the US Open, where he failed in Round 3, his form has been on a downward curve. With a successful tournament in Turin, however, Rublev could still provide a conciliatory ending, and the current opponent suits him perfectly.
He has played Casper Ruud four times so far and won all four matches. In the Australian Open and Monte Carlo Masters, he beat the Norwegian twice this year.
In his only victory on hard court, Ruud had to retire injured at 0:2 after the first set. Will he be able to secure his first win now? He is the underdog with the bookmakers, but the average 2.60 is not too high either.
It’s his debut at a Masters, the world number eight is looking to establish himself in the top 10 for the long term. His start against Novak Djokovic was a failure, but at 6-7, 2-6 he managed to trouble the very best for a long time, at least in the first set.
In the second match, it looked as if the 22-year-old was going to retire early. He had lost the first set 1-6 to Cameron Norrie, but then improved incredibly
6-3, 6-4, at the end he celebrated the victory and his chance to reach the semi-finals. Ruud only gave up seven break chances to his two opponents, so despite a few unforced errors, his serve ultimately came through strongly.
In Vienna and Paris, the Norwegian had made it to the quarter-finals, so he did much better than Andrey Rublev. In San Diego, he even beat the entire competition.
Are there favourites and outsiders at the finals if Novak Djokovic is not playing? Almost everything is open between Andrey Rublev and Casper Ruud. The last few tournaments speak more in favour of the Norwegian, the direct comparison for the Russian.
Both lost against Djokovic, but won the other match. The winner will definitely advance to the semi-finals. For betting friends, both players have shown their strengths and weaknesses.
Ruud came back from 0:1 against Norrie, with Rublev the question is how to rate his win against the Greek after Tsitsipas retired. Since Ruud has never been able to win against Rublev, I decide on the following tip:
Rublev wins narrowly against Ruud!
