Stockholm SF previews and predictions: De Minaur vs. Rune, Tsitsipas vs. Ruusuvuori

Emil Ruusuvuori is the only unseeded player through to the Stockholm semifinals and his reward is a date with top-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas on Saturday. Alex de Minaur and Holger Rune are also among the last four.

(5) Alex de Minaur vs. (7) Holger Rune

De Minaur has been the two most dominant players at the Stockholm Open this week (along with Emil Ruusuvuori). The 23rd-ranked Australian has not dropped a set, has been pushed to only one tiebreaker, and four of his set scores have been 6-3, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2. Benjamin Bonzi, J.J. Wolf, and Denis Shapovalov posed few problems for De Minaur, who is now 43-21 this season and will break back into the top 20 if he takes the title.

Up next for the 23-year-old on semifinal Saturday is Rune, who has advanced with victories over Thiago Monteiro, Cristian Garin, and Cameron Norrie. The 19-year-old Dane had been 0-3 against Norrie (all this season) before pulling off the upset on Friday, a clear sign of progress for the youngster. However, that was a difficult contest and a matchup with De Minaur is sure to test the legs of the youngster. Look for Stockholm’s No. 5 seed to remain on a roll.

Pick: De Minaur in 2

(1) Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Emil Ruusuvuori

Tsitsipas and Ruusuvuori will also be squaring off for the first time in their careers on Saturday. Ruusuvuori has been crushing opponents this week; he beat Joao Sousa 6-3, 6-2, Jiri Lehecka 6-2, 6-2, and Frances Tiafoe 6-1, 6-2.

However, this is exactly where you would expect the 52nd-ranked Finn to run into trouble. He has been to only one ATP final (lost in Pune earlier this year) and he is 2-8 lifetime against top-10 opponents–including 1-8 in his last nine and 0-6 in his last six. Tsitsipas followed up a bye with straight-set defeats of Maxime Cressy and Mikael Ymer, although both matches were competitive. The fifth-ranked Greek is bidding for his second consecutive final after finishing runner-up to Novak Djokovic two weeks ago in Astana, and he should be able to do it.

Pick: Tsitsipas in 2