It’s almost a clean sweep for the top four in Umag, as tournament No. 1 seed Andrey Rublev takes on No. 4 Francisco Cerundolo in the semifinals on Friday. No. 2 Lorenzo Musetti battles unseeded Czech Jakub Mensik.
(1) Andrey Rublev vs. Francisco Cerundolo
Andrey Rublev is ranked No. 9 in the world, and he won his second Masters 1000 this spring in Madrid–but he has slumped bigtime since. Between nabbing the title in Madrid and his run to at least the semis in Umag, the Russian won exactly three matches in five tournaments played–including a first-round ouster at Wimbledon at the hands of world No. 122 Francisco Comesana. Rublev seems to have found his footing again this week as he wraps up European clay and starts to make his way to North America to prepare for the U.S. Open.
Francisco Cerundolo has had a bit of a rough season of his own. Prior to Umag, he had a losing record on the year (18-20). The 25-year-old performed well at Roland Garros, even pushing Novak Djokovic to five sets in the round of 16. It’s probably more accurate to say that Cerundolo struggles off clay, but since he’s still on the dirt this week his success isn’t really a surprise.
Despite being the top seed, Rublev will be vulnerable on Friday. He isn’t playing with confidence right now. Cerundolo is perfectly capable of seizing the opportunity.
Cheryl pick: Cerundolo in 2
Ricky pick: Cerundolo in 3
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(4) Lorenzo Musetti vs. Jakub Mensik
This will be the first meeting between Lorenzo Musetti and Czechia’s Jakub Mensik. Unfortunately for Mensik, except for Carlos Alcaraz–who just won the Channel Slam (the French Open and Wimbledon in the same season)–Musetti is the hottest player on tour. He bowed out of the French Open in the third round, but since then he has racked up a wild number of wins: the semis in Stuttgart, final of Queen’s Club, the semis at Wimbledon, and now the final weekend in Umag.
Mensik is ranked 81st in the world. The 18-year-old has plenty of potential but is without the consistency necessary to make noise on the tour week in and week out. He had a completely disastrous grass-court swing, and while he’s posted his best results in his young career on hard courts, he clearly fares better on clay than he does on grass.
This one should be a routine win for Musetti. The Italian had some time off since his run at Wimbledon and hasn’t looked gassed at all this week. Look for Musetti to take care of business in efficient fashion.
Cheryl pick: Musetti in 2
Ricky pick: Musetti in 3
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