Andrey Rublev will try to continue his mastery of ATP 500s when he battles Ugo Humbert for the Halle title on Sunday. At Queen’s Club, meanwhile, Britain’s own Cameron Norrie is going up against No. 1 seed Matteo Berrettini.
cinch Championships: (1) Matteo Berrettini vs. Cameron Norrie
Berrettini has been crushing the hopes and dreams of the British faithful this week and he can do it again in the Queen’s Club final on Sunday. The top-seeded Italian ousted Andy Murray in the second round and Dan Evans in the quarterfinals, both in straight sets. In fact, Berrettini has not dropped a set all week; he also defeated Stefano Travaglia and Alex de Minaur in mostly routine fashion.
Up next for the world No. 9 is a first-ever meeting with Norrie. Playing in front of the home crowd, the 41st-ranked Brit is through to his fourth career title and third of the season following victories over Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Aslan Karatsev, Jack Draper, and Denis Shapovalov. Norrie is an incredible 29-12 for the season, so he is capable of making this one competitive. In the end, though, the left-hander has never won an ATP title and Berrettini is looking like a serious Wimbledon contender.
Pick: Berrettini in 3
Noventi Open: Ugo Humbert vs. (4) Andrey Rublev
Rublev and Humbert will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers on Sunday in Halle. Both of their previous encounters have gone Rublev’s way; 6-4, 6-4 in 2019 Monte-Carlo qualifying and 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 last fall on the indoor hard courts of St. Petersburg. The St. Petersburg result was part of an unbelievable 500-point stretch for Rublev in which he won four consecutive tournaments at that level. He is back in the final of another one following defeats of Karen Khachanov, Jordan Thompson, Philipp Kohlschreiber, and Nikoloz Basilashvili.
Whereas the seventh-ranked Russian has dropped only one set this week, Humbert has survived all four of his matches in three sets. Having also reached the Stuttgart quarterfinals a week ago, Humbert has to be running on fumes. Rublev has too much positive experience on this stage and in all likelihood will simply be too good for the 31st-ranked Frenchman.
Pick: Rublev in 2
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