In a highly anticipated encounter, Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece plays Andrey Rublev of Russia in the semi-finals of the 2021 ATP Rotterdam Open on Saturday, March 6th, with the exact match timing 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
This will be the sixth encounter between both players, with Tsitsipas leading the head-to-head 3-2. They met three times during the latter part of 2020, with them trading close wins at the Hamburg ATP 500 and the Tour Finals in London, and Tsitsipas winning convincingly at the French Open in the quarter-finals.
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Another Clutch Tsitsipas win
The season thus far is young, but Stefanos Tsitsipas has been on an impressive run already. Winning both his matches at the ATP Cup, the world number six made it to the final eight at the Australian Open where he defeated world number two Rafael Nadal after being down two sets to love, before a straight sets defeat in the semi-finals at the hands of Daniil Medvedev.
Coming to Rotterdam as the number two seed, it was always going to be a tricky tournament given how the draw was stacked. A tight two-setter against the in-form Egor Gerasimov was followed by a high voltage three- set match against fellow Next Gen Pole Hubert Hurkacz where Tsitsipas upped the ante when needed most and closed the match 7-5 in the third.
The quarter-finals saw him run into another rising star in Russian Karen Khachanov, who has looked good all week. Khachanov was off to a flier claiming the first set, and after a Tsitsipas revival in the second, the Russian took a crucial 3-1 lead in the decider. As seen all week along, when the time comes Tsitsipas seems to be able to rise to the occasion and did just that to break back and then break again to close out the third set.
Rotterdam has not been the luckiest of venues for Tsitsipas as this is further than he has ever been the few times he has participated at this tournament, but will have his eyes on silverware now.
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The Rublev Run At ATP 500s Continues…
Andrey Rublev has been in phenomenal form of late, winning five titles in 2020, making his first ever Tour Finals and breaking into the top eight of the ATP rankings.
He continued his strong run of form at the start of the season too, leading Russia to the finals of the ATP Cup, alongside Daniil Medvedev and winning all his matches. The Russian continued his run at the Australian Open, where he was in ominous form until the quarter-finals and ran into compatriot Daniil Medvedev and lost in straight sets.
Seeded fourth here this week at Rotterdam, Rublev has had to make his way through a stacked half of the draw. In his opener against American qualifier Marcos Giron, Rublev probably had a sterner challenge than expected, and then was up against Andy Murray and the stature of an opponent like that never makes for an easy task.
A close opening set against the three-time major champion was followed by Rublev at his destructive best and that saw a quarter-final set up against the in-form Jerimy Chardy from France. Chardy and Rublev split two tiebreaks and just when Rublev looked like running away up 4-0 in the decider, Chardy broke back twice for 4-4.
The Russian got it together right thereafter, and pressured the Frenchman’s serve, and finally the veteran cracked and Rublev made it 18 wins in a row on the ATP 500s setting up a mouth-watering semi final against Tsitsipas.
Tsitsipas v Rublev Prediction & Tip
This may well be the match of the tournament and given the form the two players are in, it has the potential to be a final for all means and purposes. Both players have been on a run since the start of the year and there is very little to choose between them at the moment. It will come down to who is better in the big moments on Saturday.
No surprises if either wins, but Tsitsipas has shown all week the ability to come out on top when it matters most and that may just ride him to the finish line this week. Tsitsipas to inch through seems the call for the semis.
Tip: Tsitsipas to win in threes sets : 10/3 (bet365)
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The 2021 ATP Rotterdam Open will be played from March 1 to 7. You can watch & bet on these matches here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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