Top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas will kick off his week in Vienna on Tuesday against Grigor Dimitrov. Casper Ruud, who is looking to join Tsitsipas at the Nitto ATP Finals, has a first-round test in the form of Lloyd Harris.
(1) Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Grigor Dimitrov
Tsitsipas and Dimitrov will be squaring off for the third time in their careers when they clash in round one of the Erste Bank Open on Tuesday. They have split their two previous encounters; Tsitsipas cruised 6-3, 7-6(9), 6-2 at the 2020 French Open before Dimitrov prevailed 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3 at this same Vienna event last fall.
An upset loss last year in Vienna wasn’t particularly alarming, as Tsitsipas was coming off a semifinal showing at the French Open after losing a heartbreaker to Novak Djokovic. The third-ranked Greek hasn’t been great this fall, but he is well-rested for the stretch run and at least managed to reach the quarterfinals in Indian Wells. Dimitrov won’t be an easy out on the heels of back-to-back semifinal performances in San Diego and Indian Wells, but Tsitsipas will likely be too tough.
Pick: Tsitsipas in 2
(4) Casper Ruud vs. Lloyd Harris
Ruud is in great position to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time in his career. He is in seventh place in the race to Turin and 170 points ahead of ninth-place Jannik Sinner. The 22-year-old Norwegian has won five titles in 2021, including at the inaugural San Diego tournament–where he destroyed eventual Indian Wells champion Cameron Norrie 6-0, 6-2 in the final.
Up first for Ruud on Tuesday is a third career contest against Harris, who is 0-2 lifetime in the head-to-head series. They just faced each other during third-round action in Indian Wells, where Ruud survived a hard-fought 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4 affair. Harris got right back in action last week and reached the Antwerp semifinals before getting blown out 6-2, 6-2 by Sinner. A more well-rested and red-hot Ruud should once again have the upper hand in this matchup.
Pick: Ruud in 2
WWW?
The courts are playing slow, so that should favor both Rudd and Tsitsipas.
Dimitrov had a couple nice wins last week, but his opponents choked more than he played well.