No. 1 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and No. 2 Andrey Rublev remain on a collision course for the Rotterdam final. But first they have quarterfinal matches on their hands against Alex de Minaur and Marton Fucsovics, respectively.
(1) Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Alex de Minaur
Tsitsipas and de Minaur will be squaring off for the 10th time in their careers overall and for the seventh time at the ATP main-draw level when they battle for a semifinal spot at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament on Friday. The head-to-head series stands at 8-1 in favor of Tsitsipas, who has won seven in a row at de Minaur’s expense. They most recently faced each other at the Indian Wells Masters this past fall, when the fourth-ranked Greek got the job done 6-7(3), 7-6(3), 6-2.
Can de Minaur get over the hump this time after coming close in the desert? The 34th-ranked Aussie is certainly playing well enough to do so. He is 7-2 this season with a fourth-round showing at the Australian Open and wins so far this week over David Goffin and Mackenzie McDonald. Tsitsipas reached the semifinals at Melbourne Park and he booked his spot in the last eight this week with defeats of Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Ilya Ivashka. The top seed may not be able to hit through de Minaur on this very slow court, so don’t be surprised if an upset is in the cards.
Pick: De Minaur in 3
Marton Fucsovics vs. (2) Andrey Rublev
Rublev and Fucsovics famously faced each other four times in 2021–a stretch that began in none other than the final of this same Rotterdam event. They would have squared off four times in the span of little more than a month in February and March, but Fucsovics withdrew from their scheduled matchup in Dubai. Rublev swept early-season meetings in Rotterdam, Doha, and Miami all in straight sets before the Hungarian finally pulled off a five-set upset at Wimbledon. Overall, Rublev leads the head-to-head series 4-2 on the main tour–including 3-0 in best-of-three situations.
The seventh-ranked Russian will be happy to once again meet Fucsovics in this setting as he hopes to resume his dominance at the ATP 500 level that dates back to late 2021 and early 2022. It’s so far so good this week. Rublev kicked off his title defense with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Henri Laaksonen and then cruised past Soonwoo Kwon 6-3, 6-3 on Thursday. Fucsovics is through to the quarters with defeats of Filip Krajinovic and Tallon Griekspoor. The world No. 38 is back on track following a slow start to the year, but nothing suggests he is ready to take down Rublev at this particular tournament.
Pick: Rublev in 2
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