Only one seed remains in Estoril, but two of the breakout stars of 2018 are also on the Saturday schedule. Stefanos Tsitsipas and Frances Tiafoe have respective showdowns on their hands against Joao Sousa and Pablo Carreno Busta.
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Joao Sousa
Aside from Rafael Nadal’s 46-set clay-court winning streak, Tsitsipas’ is the biggest story going on the ATP Tour right now as he heads into semifinal action at the Estoril Open on Saturday. The 19-year-old Greek reached the Monte-Carlo second round as a qualifier, finished runner-up to Nadal in Barcelona last week, and has gotten right back in gear in Estoril with victories over Marrakech winner Pablo Andujar, No. 1 seed Kevin Anderson, and Quito champion Roberto Carballes Baena. Tsitsipas, who is up to 44th in the rankings, has earned 13 of his 17 career ATP-level already this season–including nine during the clay-court swing.
Up next for Tsitsipas on Saturday is a first-ever meeting with Sousa, who punched his ticket to the last four by taking out Daniil Medvedev, Pedro Sousa, and Kyle Edmund–surrendering sets to Sousa and Edmund along the way. Still, the world No. 58 from Portugal toasted Edmund a bagel in their third set on Friday and the match lasted only one hour and 26 minutes. A baseline grinder like Sousa should be able to make the points long enough to take advantage of Tsitsipas’ inevitable fatigue.
Pick: Sousa in 3
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Frances Tiafoe vs. (2) Pablo Carreno Busta
Carreno Busta and Tiafoe will also be going head-to-head for the first time on Saturday. Tiafoe did plenty of damage at home in the United States on hard courts (first career title in Delray Beach, fourth-round performance in Miami) and–more surprisingly–is maintaining momentum on European clay. The 20-year-old American has picked up 14 of his 23 career ATP-level match wins in 2018 following Estoril victories over Tennys Sandgren, Gilles Muller, and Simone Bolelli.
Clay-court success is nothing new, of course, for Carreno Busta. The 11th-ranked Spaniard made a run to the French Open quarterfinals last spring and is coming off a semifinal showing in Barcelona. Perhaps nowhere is he better than in Estoril, where he is an awesome 13-2 lifetime with one title (2017) and one runner-up finish (2016). Carreno Busta is back in business at this event thanks to mostly routine defeats of Nicolas Kicker and Nicolas Jarry. Although Tiafoe is no slouch on the slow stuff, he will likely get a free clay-court lesson from a far more experienced opponent.
Pick: Carreno Busta in 2
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WYG?
PCB FTW probably in 2, but Tiafoe could get a set. Sousa in 3
Tsitsipas has to be too tired to win another match here. He’s got his Madrid WC — just go rest up Stefanos!
Tpas in 3, and PCB in 2.
Let it ride on STSTSTSS!!!!
#RealDeal
Tsitsi in 3
PCB in 3
Tsetse fly in three
Spanish fly in two
It will be a tough one for Tsitsipas again, I hope he gets to the final. It will be great to see another teenager winning a title.
Well done, Joao Sousa!
Great win for my countryman! I’ll be on the stands tomorrow rooting for him and hoping that he can give a great joy playing in front of his people. Vamos 🙂
I root for Joao Sousa because he has had a good relationship with Rafa.
🙂
So does Federer
Good point, Al.
Somehow I don’t think that figures into Augusta’s thinking about whether or not to back Federer in his matches!
No, even I would place a bet on that!
Big aL AT 12:31 AM,
Nope.
Big Al AT 9:43 PM,
That’s what Fed does:
MailOnline, 30 June 2012: “Rosol’s victory over Rafa just made me laugh, says Federer.”
Fed leads the anti-Rafa cult. His fans are his followers.
Tiafoe is my favorite American player and fast becoming one of the best young players on tour. He’s the whole package: serve, monster FH, comfortable at net, and blazing fast. And he’s only 20. This was maybe the biggest win of his career, given the opponent and the surface and location. Go Frances!
Congrats to Joao Sousa winning Estoril. He really put it all out there to win.
Well played by Tiafoe making the final – congrats to him as well.