Casper Ruud did well to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Jordan Thompson did even better to beat Alexander Zverev at the Los Cabos Open, and now they'll play each other in the final.
Neither of these players stood in the final last year, so there is a new final at the ATP 250 event in Los Cabos, and there will be a new champion. The last champion was Tsitsipas, but he was beaten by Ruud in straight sets.
The match was interesting and high quality, but the Norwegian got a bit lucky, which he admitted after the match. Jordan Thompson admitted no such thing because he didn't get lucky.
He outplayed Zverev to find himself in the final with not a bad chance of winning the match. But both will want to end up with the trophy.
Head-to-head:
Ruud and Thompson have played each other four times so far, and the H2H score is 2-2. One of the matches was played on the Challenger Tour, and Thomspon won that one. On the ATP Tour, it's 2-1 for the Norwegian player.
The most recent match they played happened in 2021, but it was on grass at Wimbledon. Thompson won that match, but that's not a huge surprise because Ruud barely touches grass unless he's golfing.
Prediction:
This meeting comes at an interesting time for both. On the one side, there is Ruud, who seems to be trending towards his former self. The conditions in Los Cabos suit his play very well because they're kind of slow and not that fast, leaving him enough time to unload.
Unfortunately for Ruud, it also benefits Thompson, though he put together an incredible effort to stay in the tournament, and that may show in his stamina. He was on the verge of defeat against Alex Michelsen but pulled through.
He played about as well as he can play against Zverev and barely won. He'll need the same thing against Ruud, and I don't think he'll get it.
Prediction: Casper Ruud to win in two sets.
0 Comments