It will be an all-Spanish affair when Fernando Verdasco and David Ferrer battle for a place in the Bastad title match on Saturday. Andrey Kuznetsov and Alexandr Dolgopolov are also in semifinal action.
(8) David Ferrer vs. (6) Fernando Verdasco
Verdasco and Ferrer will be facing each other for the 21st time in their careers and for the first time in more than two years when they clash in the semifinals of the SkiStar Swedish Open on Saturday. The head-to-head series stands at 13-7 in favor of Ferrer, who has won an incredible nine matches in a row at his fellow Spaniard’s expense since losing a memorable five-setter in round four of the 2010 U.S. Open. Three of Ferrer’s nine recent victories have come on clay, including via a 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 decision in their most recent showdown at the 2015 Madrid Masters.
Fast forward to 2017, though, and Ferrer is a shadow of his former self at 35 years old. He is just 13-14 this season, which is a big reason why he has slumped to No. 46 in the rankings. But so far in Bastad he has taken out Federico Delbonis, Dustin Brown, and Henri Laaksonen–the latter in a third-set tiebreaker after saving two match points. Verdasco is through to the semis thanks to defeats of Elias Ymer, Facundo Bagnis, and Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Since dropping his opener against Ymer, the world No. 39 has prevailed by set scores of 6-3, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3, and 6-2. Now is as favorable a time as ever for an in-form Verdasco to take advantage of a struggling Ferrer, whose battle with Laaksonen does not bode particularly well for his semifinal chances.
Pick: Verdasco in 2
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Andrey Kuznetsov vs. Alexandr Dolgopolov
Knowing he was well less than 100 percent, Dolgopolov controversially took the court at Wimbledon and promptly retired from his first-round match against eventual champion Roger Federer while trailing 6-3, 3-0. It was Dolgopolov’s fifth retirement of the season. From just about of nowhere, Dolgopolov finds himself in the Bastad semis following victories over Leonardo Mayer, Horacio Zeballos, and Karen Khachanov–with Friday’s tilt ending in a third-set tiebreaker.
Up next for the 89th-ranked Ukrainian on Saturday is a third career contest against Kuznetsov (first at the ATP level). Dolgopolov got the job done in 2008 (at a Futures event in Russia) and 2009 (at a clay-court Challenger tournament in Orbetello, Italy). Kuznetsov registers one spot better than his opponent at No. 88 in the world. The Russian is still under .500 at 12-15 this year despite picking up wins this week at the expense of Jan-Lennard Struff, Pablo Carreno Busta (via third-set retirement), and Diego Schwartzman. Dolgopolov’s physical status is always a question mark, especially after a long one against Khachanov, so Kuznetsov should have a slight edge.
Pick: Kuznetsov in 3
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who ya got?
Dolgopolov and Nando in three setters