Top two seeds Stefanos Tsitsipas and Cameron Norrie will get their weeks started in Stockholm as a second-round competition gets underway on Wednesday. Tsitsipas is taking on Maxime Cressy, while Norrie is facing Aslan Karatsev.
(1) Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Maxime Cressy
Tsitsipas and Cressy will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers when they clash in round two of the Stockholm Open on Wednesday. Their only previous encounter came at the 2020 U.S. Open, where Tsitsipas prevailed 7-6(2), 6-3, 6-4.
The fifth-ranked Greek may be heating up just in time to capture his first hard-court title of the year–if not this week then at least before the end of the 2022 campaign. Tsitsipas is coming off a runner-up effort in Astana, where he defeated Hubert Hurkacz in the quarterfinals and Andrey Rublev in the semis before falling to Novak Djokovic. Cressy did well to overcome Ilya Ivashka 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 on Monday, but this is a considerable step up in competition level and Tsitsipas is also well rested.
Pick: Tsitsipas in 2
Aslan Karatsev vs. (2) Cameron Norrie
Norrie is hoping to join Tsitsipas at the Nitto ATP Finals, but the Brit needs at least one more huge result if he is going to do it–probably at either a 500 event or the Paris Masters 1000. Still, even a 250 tournament is important for Norrie’s bid to qualify. He will undoubtedly be motivated, especially because he was forced to withdraw from Seoul prior to the quarterfinals because of a positive Covid-19 test and then missed Tokyo.
Up first for Norrie on Wednesday is Karatsev, who lost their only previous meeting 7-5, 6-2 last summer on the grass courts of Queen’s Club. The 45th-ranked Russian has been in disastrous form of late, with a 3-10 record in his last 13 matches and a 17-26 record overall this year. Karatsev beat Lukas Rosol 6-3, 6-3 in the Stockholm first round, but that hardly indicates that he is suddenly on the right track. Norrie should roll.
Pick: Norrie in 2
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