STEF IS BACK! Stefanos Tsitsipas becomes the fifth 3-time champ at Monte Carlo, beating Casper Ruud in straight sets 💪🇬🇷
2024 Barcelona Open FINAL PREVIEW as Casper RUUD aims for his biggest title and to halt Stefanos TSITSIPAS’ inspired clay streak
ATPSunday, 21 April 2024 at 08:15
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Casper
Ruud will headline the ATP 500 Barcelona Open final, in what will be a rematch
of the Monte-Carlo Masters final just a week ago. On that occasion, the Greek
claimed victory 6-1, 6-4, securing his third Masters 1000 title, all at the
Monte Carlo Country Club.
The former world No. 3 will
slightly be the favorite this week in Barcelona, maintaining a 10-0 streak on
clay courts this season, including three wins over top-10 players in the last
two weeks (including Ruud). It will also be his fourth final in Barcelona,
although he has yet to secure the title.
Tsitsipas overcomes difficulties to reach his second consecutive final
The 25-year-old faced a draw
that seemed easier than the previous week in Monte-Carlo and has not faced any
of the seeded players so far. Tsitsipas navigated through the early rounds
against Sebastian Ofner (6-4, 7-5) and local player Roberto Carballes Baena
(7-5, 6-3).
In the quarterfinals, the
Greek saved a couple of match points against the surprising Facundo Diaz
Acosta, who started the year as world No. 95 and has already secured his entry
into the top 50. Tsitsipas eventually claimed victory 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(8). In the
semifinals, he once again had to come from behind against the experienced Dusan
Lajovic and secured victory 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the 29th final of his career
(11 titles, 17 runner-ups).
Ruud quietly earns another final berth
The Norwegian has been showing
great consistency on the ATP Tour for a couple of years now, especially on
clay, reaching the last two French Open finals, both with losses to Rafael
Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Despite almost reaching world No. 1 in 2022, he has
not yet won a major title. In fact, his 10 professional titles have all been in
ATP 250 tournaments, nine of them on clay.
Ruud had a good opportunity
last week, considering that his previous finals in Grand Slams, Masters 1000,
and ATP Finals were against Nadal, Djokovic, or Alcaraz. Despite Tsitsipas's
strong clay-court records, he was coming off an inconsistent period after
dropping out of the top 10, and Ruud narrowly missed out on a significant
title.
Ruud has clinched 9 out of his 10 titles on clay. This marks his 22nd final appearance in his career
This week in Barcelona, he
will have a chance for redemption and his first ATP 500 title. Ruud quietly progressed
through the tournament without dropping a set in his victories over Alexandre
Muller (6-3, 6-4), Jordan Thompson (6-1, 6-4), Matteo Arnaldi (6-4, 6-3), and
Tomas Martin Etcheverry (7-6, 6-4).
The Norwegian is playing in
his fourth final of the season, although it won't be easy against the inspired
Tsitsipas in the rematch of the Monte-Carlo Masters final, where the Greek
comfortably claimed the trophy with a 6-1, 6-4 victory. Currently, the
head-to-head stands at 2-2, 1-1 considering matches on clay.
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