In a repeat of the recently concluded Hamburg ATP 500 final, Next Gen Andrey Rublev and Stefanos Tsitsipas meet in the quarter-finals of the 2020 French Open on Wednesday, October 6. The exact timing of the match is yet to be determined. Get the live streaming options of this Stefanos Tsitsipas v Andrey Rublev match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Stefanos Tsitsipas v Andrey Rublev Head to Head
The players have met three times on the tour thus far, with Rublev leading 2-1. Their last meeting was on the clay courts of Hamburg a little more than a week ago in the ATP 500 final, which Rublev won in three sets.
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Tsitsipas Clinical In Dimitrov Win
After all the promise of 2019, 2020 did not start too well for Tsitsipas. However, come February he hit a good run, defending his title at Marseille without dropping a set and making the final in Dubai again before being runner-up, this time to Novak Djokovic.
After the Covid-19 hiatus, he had a mixed time on the US hard courts, and did not have the best of initial returns to clay. It started with a three set opening round loss at the Rome Masters 1000 against Italian teenager Jannik Sinner, but he hit form soon enough and was a finalist last week at the Hamburg Open losing to Andrey Rublev.
Tsitsipas arrived in Paris looking jaded and out of sorts in his opener against Jaume Munar of Spain. A quick first two sets saw Tsitsipas one set away from an early exit and he also seemed to be suffering from tiredness and/or the niggles with medical timeouts. However, a great fightback by the Greek followed, who went on to prevail in five sets.
As the tournament progressed, Tsitsipas grew in both confidence and form and ensured there were no further immediate hiccups. The Greek looked clinical in his next round against veteran Pablo Cuevas and after being in control in the third round against Aljaz Bedene for two sets, the Slovenian pulled out with an injury.
A clash of single handed backhands followed in the round of 16 as Tsitsipas faced Grigor Dimitrov for the first time in his career. What was thought to be a tricky encounter started off well for the Greek as he won the first set with a break of serve.
The second set was very even, with the players trading set points in the tie-break with Tsitsipas eventually clinching it 11-9. There was no letting go of the momentum thereafter, as Tsitsipas raced to a double-break and closed the match at 6-2 in the third set.
A first French Open awaits the Greek and a shot at avenging his Hamburg final loss to Andrey Rublev, also in the quarter-finals at Roland-Garros for the first time.
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Rublev Following Similar Path to Tsitsipas
Andrey Rublev returned to the tour in the latter part of 2019 after a long injury lay-off and has had a very strong last year, as he has won three tournaments in 2020 already, on hard courts and on clay and is on the cusp of being in the top ten of the ATP rankings. Along with titles in Doha, Adelaide and Hamburg,he also did well to make the last 16 at both majors this year in Melbourne and New York.
Similar to Tsitsipas, a quick shuffle to Paris after Hamburg may have been unsettling as although he started as a strong favorite against out of form big serving Sam Querrey, Rublev saw himself down two sets having lost two tie-breaks and down a break in the third set. With Querrey serving for the match, Rublev found himself on the verge of an unexpected French Open exit.
A great comeback by Rublev followed, who won in a deciding fifth set to not only seal a spot in the second round, but also win his first ever match at the French Open. With strong ground-strokes and his iconic running forehand in play, the Russian went from strength to strength in the decider as the Querrey serve let him down at crucial points in the match.
More clinical rounds followed and although Rublev dropped a set against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Rublev never let off the intensity and looked in control for most of the match. In his third round, he was up against former top five and two time Grand Slam finalist Kevin Anderson, but there was no stopping Rublev on the clay.The Anderson big serve, was not as effective on the slower dirt and negated by the strong Rublev return game, which saw him win comfortably in straight sets.
A fourth round encounter against the underrated and gritty Marton Fucsovics followed, where the in-form Hungarian took the first set in a tie-break, but Rublev continued to keep it tight. The Russian won the next two sets 7-5, 6-4 but the dogged Fucsovics was not going to go away without a fight. The fourth set looked very even but young Rublev upped the ante to win it in a tie-break and reach his first Roland Garros quarter-final.
Tsitsipas v Rublev Prediction and Tip
It is hard to pick a winner between these two evenly matched players, in what could be a frequent contest in the future, and it comes down to the better player on the day. Both have looked jaded with the transition from Hamburg and both have looked strong since the opening round struggle.
Tsitsipas will be high on confidence after a more convincing win than expected against Dimitrov in the previous round and is perhaps a little more comfortable on the bigger stages than his opponent. Anyone’s match, but expect Tsitsipas to clinch this in four tight sets.
Tip: Tsitsipas to win in four sets: 11/4 (bet365)
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The French Open 2020 will be played from September 27 to October 11. You can watch & bet on the French Open here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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