Rotterdam SF previews and predictions: Tsitsipas vs. Rublev, Coric vs. Fucsovics

It will be a tale of two very different semifinal showdowns in Rotterdam on Saturday. A blockbuster battle pits Stefanos Tsitsipas against Andrey Rublev, while Borna Coric and Marton Fucsovics are meeting in an all-unseeded encounter.

(4) Andrey Rublev vs. (2) Stefanos Tsitsipas

Tsitsipas and Rublev will be squaring off for the seventh time in their careers (sixth at the ATP level) and for the fourth time in the last six months when they meet again in the semifinals of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament on Saturday. The head-to-head series is all tied up at three wins apiece (Tsitsipas leads 3-2 on the main tour). In a trio of 2020 encounters, the Greek prevailed twice–in straight sets at the French Open and in a final-set tiebreaker at the Nitto ATP Finals. That avenged a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 loss to Rublev in the Hamburg title match.

Rublev’s triumph in Hamburg was his first of three in a row at 500-point tournaments (also in Vienna and St. Petersburg). The eighth-ranked Russian has since extended his winning streak in 500s to 18 matches with Rotterdam victories over Marcos Giron, Andy Murray, and Jeremy Chardy. Tsitsipas is coming off back-to-back tough three-setters against Hubert Hurkacz and Karen Khachanov, which combined lasted almost five hours. The sixth-ranked Greek will be playing even more defense against Rublev than he did in those two matches, so fatigue could be a factor. Outside of slams, Rublev’s form is such that it is almost impossible to pick against him.

Pick: Rublev in 3

Borna Coric vs. (Q) Marton Fucsovics

Coric and Fucsovics will be going head-to-head for the fourth time in their careers on Saturday. All three of their previous contests have gone the way of Coric; 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 at the 2019 Australian Open, via third-set retirement later that year in St. Petersburg, and 7-6(5), 6-1 at the Paris Masters this past fall.

Although Fucsovics is playing great this week (he had to qualify just to get into the main draw), this simply isn’t a great matchup for him. The 59th-ranked Hungarian plays relatively similar to Coric, but his firepower isn’t that much bigger and both his consistency and defense are not as good. On a slow indoor hard court, Fucsovics may struggle to put points away against Coric’s defending. The 26th-ranked Croat has been outstanding in three straight-set victories (including over Kei Nishikori on Friday) and he should be able to add another one.

Pick: Coric in 2