Seeds Cameron Norrie, Reilly Opelka, and Taylor Fritz will be in action on quarterfinal Friday in Atlanta. Norrie is going up against Emil Ruusuvuori, while Opelka and Fritz are familiar and friendly foes and they are set for an all-American affair.
(3) Cameron Norrie vs. Emil Ruusuvuori
Few–if any–players outside the top 10 have enjoyed more success than Norrie in 2021. The 25-year-old is an incredible 36-14 this season and is currently No. 12 in the race to Turin. After finishing runner-up in Estoril, Lyon, and London, Norrie captured his first career ATP title last week in Los Cabos. Maintaining his awesome momentum, the 29th-ranked Brit made routine 6-1, 6-4 work of Nick Kyrgios during second-round action at the Truist Atlanta Open on Thursday night.
Up next for Norrie on Friday is Ruusuvuori, who lost their only previous meeting 6-3, 7-6(4) on the indoor hard courts of Antwerp last fall. Over the past two seasons, the 22-year-old Finn has made his climb up the ATP rankings and into the top 100. Currently 78th, Ruusuvuori is on the move again thanks to a quarterfinal berth in Atlanta following defeats of Mackenzie McDonald (in straight sets) and Benoit Paire (via third-set retirement). Right now, though, you have to wield a ton of firepower on both serve and groundstrokes to beat Norrie because he is just in incredibly solid form at the baseline. Ruusuvuori almost certainly won’t be able to blow one of the hottest players on tour off the court.
Pick: Norrie in 2
(5) Taylor Fritz vs. (4) Reilly Opelka
Opelka and Fritz will be facing each other for the eighth time in their careers on Friday. Fritz is dominating the head-to-head series 6-1; 4-1 on the main tour and 2-0 in Challengers/Futures. Five of their matches have come on hard courts, with Fritz having prevailed on four of those occasions. They most recently squared off earlier this season at the Australian Open, where Fritz survived 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 6-2.
Fritz has made a remarkable recovery from a partially torn meniscus at the French Open. The 42nd-ranked American got back in time for Wimbledon and reached the third round (lost to Alexander Zverev in a fourth-set tiebreaker) and then advanced to the Los Cabos semifinals. So far in Atlanta he has defeated Evgeny Donskoy in straight sets and Steve Johnson in three. Opelka followed up a first-round bye with a 7-6(3), 7-6(4) victory over Bjorn Fratangelo on Wednesday. The 6’11” American is just 9-12 this season and had lost three matches in a row prior to arriving in Atlanta. Obviously Opelka has a chance in any match with his serve–especially in these conditions–but based on respective current form and past head-to-head history Fritz should have the edge.
Pick: Fritz in 3
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Who Will Win.
Norrie in 3; Fritz in 2.