Finals previews and predictions: Berrettini vs. Murray, Medvedev vs. Van Rijthoven

Andy Murray is through to the Stuttgart final and now the No. 2 seed, Matteo Berrettini, stands in the Scott’s way of the title on Sunday. In ‘s-Hertogenbosch, top seed Daniil Medvedev is going up against Dutch wild card Tim van Rijtohoven.

BOSS Open: Andy Murray vs. (2) Matteo Berrettini

A strong Stuttgart draw has thrown just about everything it can offer at Murray this week–most notably Alexander Bublik in round two, Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals, and Nick Kyrgios in the semis. So far none of it has mattered, as the 35-year-old Scot is through to his first grass-court title match since Wimbledon in 2016 without dropping a single set.

Another marquee matchup awaits Murray on Sunday in the form of the second-seeded Berrettini. Nothing has come easy for the 10th-ranked Italian, which is understandable since this is his first tournament since Indian Wells after being sidelined by a right-handed injury. He scraped past Radu Albot and Lorenzo Sonego in three sets before beating Oscar Otte in a pair of tiebreakers on Saturday. Murray may be the underdog on paper, but he has been the best player in Stuttgart all week long and his superior returning ability could be the difference in the pressure-packed moments–probably in at least one tiebreaker and perhaps even more than one.

Pick: Murray in 3

Libema Open: (1) Daniil Medvedev vs. (WC) Tim Van Rijthoven

When the week in ‘s-Hertogenbosch began, the Dutch fans figured that with a relatively wide open draw they had a decent chance of finding at least one of their own in the final. Botic van de Zandschulp and Tallon Griekspoor were the candidates–seemingly the only candidates. There will, in fact, be a local playing for the title on Sunday. But it will be none other than Van Rijthoven, who had never won a tour-level match prior to this week. In fact, this is just the second tour-level event of the 25-year-old’s career and first since 2016. From completely out of nowhere, Van Rijthoven has advanced with victories over Matthew Ebden, Taylor Fritz, Hugo Gaston, and Felix Auger-Aliassime–the latter in a third-set tiebreaker.

Standing in the world No. 205’s way of a most improbable title is Medvedev, who will climb to No. 1 in the world on Monday regardless of Sunday’s result. The top seed punched his ticket to the final by beating Gilles Simon, Ilya Ivashka, and defending champion Adrian Mannarino in straight sets. Although Medvedev may not be as good on grass as he is on hard courts, he is obviously the best all-around player in this field and his massive edge in experience should be a little bit too much for Van Rijthoven.

Pick: Medvedev in 2