Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev will be squaring off for the third time in their careers at the ATP level when they battle for the Hamburg European Open title on Sunday afternoon.
The head-to-head series is tied up at one win apiece. Tsitsipas scored a 4-3, 3-4, 4-0, 2-4, 4-3 victory in the semifinals of the 2018 NextGen ATP Finals before Rublev prevailed 6-4, 6-7(5), 7-6(7), 7-5 in round one of the 2019 U.S. Open. They also faced each other at on the indoor hard courts of the 2017 Quimper Challenger, where Rublev got the job done 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(7).
Hamburg’s No. 5 seed is trying to go one step farther at this tournament after finishing runner-up to two-time champion Nikoloz Basiliashvili last summer. He has given himself a chance thanks to victories so far this week over Tennys Sandgren, Tommy Paul, Roberto Bautista Agut, and Casper Ruud. Rublev is now an awesome 24-6 for the season and up to No. 14 in the world.
Tsitsipas lost in round three of the U.S. Open (to Borna Coric) and right away at the Rome Masters (to Jannik Sinner), which is why he decided to play in Hamburg. The second-seeded Greek now has plenty of clay-court match practice prior to the French Open having reached the final by beating Dan Evans, Pablo Cuevas, Dusan Lajovic. and Cristian Garin.
Whereas Rublev demolished Ruud 6-4, 6-2 on Saturday, Tsitsipas needed two hours and 15 minutes to scrape past Garin 7-5, 3-6, 6-4. Although this is by no means an inconsequential title at stake, both men have to have Roland Garros on their minds–and whoever drops the first set might really start thinking about it.
Not only is Rublev in ridiculous form, but he also may want this just a little bit more. Tsitsipas is arguably closer to a Grand Slam breakthrough and is more likely to have his sights sets on Paris, especially after such a tough semifinal. That is why the edge goes to a red-hot Russian.
Pick: Rublev in 2
who ya got?
Rublev.
Meant to say Rublev in three
Well done , not easy to pick