Second-round action in a stacked Geneva tournament gets underway on Tuesday, when No. 4 seed Ben Shelton opens against Flavio Cobolli. Alexander Shevchenko and Emil Ruusuvuori are also aiming for a quarterfinal spot.
Flavio Cobolli vs. (4) Ben Shelton
Shelton and Cobolli will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers when they clash in round two of the Gonet Geneva Open on Tuesday. In 2023 Shelton played every single week of the spring clay-court swing, trying to gain a level of comfort on a foreign surface. It didn’t pay off last year, but this season he opened on the dirt with his second ATP title in Houston. The 15th-ranked American also advanced a round in both Madrid and Rome.
In other words, Shelton is no longer a novice on clay and has at least become decent on it. Unfortunately, “decent” won’t make him a significant favorite over Cobolli. The 22nd-ranked Italian has been one of the breakthrough performers on tour in 2024, up to No. 56 in the world. Thirteen of his 19 career ATP-level match wins have come this season, including a 7-5, 6-1 defeat of Aslan Karatsev on Monday. With a match in Geneva already under his belt, Cobolli should have the advantage in this one.
Pick: Cobolli in 3
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Alexander Shevchenko vs. Emil Ruusuvuori
Heading into Geneva, Ruusuvuori needed a win in the worst way. Dating back to the Doha quarterfinals in mid-February the 66th-ranked Finn had been 0-5 on the main tour and 1-7 overall. A win is exactly what he got–finally–on Monday, and it came in especially satisfying fashion against Marcos Giron. Ruusuvuori had lost to Giron 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the Rome first round but avenged that loss to the American with a 6-3, 6-3 victory.
Up next for the 25-year-old is a first-ever meeting with Shevchenko, who knocked off Fabian Marozsan 6-4, 7-6(4). It was the world No. 61’s second win over Marozsan in the last couple of weeks, having also beaten the Hungarian in the Rome opening round. Although Shevchenko hasn’t been playing great, Ruusuvuori will have to do a lot more than beat Giron in order to prove that he is out of his slump. Right now the 23-year-old Kazakh is the more reliable player.
Pick: Shevchenko in 2
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WWW?
I think both of these are suspect matches. Shelton can pull out a big first performance because there is no pressure and Ruusuvuori can win or at least win a set.
Your picks seem logical but after that first round of matches in an event like this its possible for things to go against the logic.
Watching last night Geneva looks quite a bit faster than Lyon.Ill give Shelton the edge.
Shelton in 2; Russo in 3.