Tennis Prediction Juan Manuel Cerundolo vs Casper Ruud: Gstaad

Gstaad 🇨🇭

• Casper Ruud had a bad afternoon yesterday: he lost the first set in a tiebreak against Faria, needed six break points to break the lock, and spent two hours chasing a player who was returning everything. His quarter-final opponent today is the same exam, in a revised version: Juan Manuel Cerundolo.

• The Argentine's profile is the big brother of the one who made the Norwegian falter yesterday: lots of volume, very little waste, and one of the best movers on this surface. The kind of opponent who gives nothing away and forces you to win every point twice.

• The world #45 has been doing this job since Monday: came back from a set down against Kolar, then beat Kecmanovic to earn this meeting.

• And this meeting has a special flavor: last year, at the same stage of this same tournament, Cerundolo had beaten Ruud, 6-2, 1-6, 6-3, coming back from 0-3 in the deciding set. Before that match, the Norwegian had never lost in Gstaad: ten wins in ten matches.

• I'm not selling Ruud short though: double champion here, one of the best records on clay of his generation, and his comeback yesterday showed an engine that responds once it's up and running. The legitimate favorite for this quarter-final, no doubt.

• But my bet doesn't require the full upset. Yesterday, Faria took a set from him. Last year, Cerundolo took two, right here. I need one.

• A favorite who starts slowly, an opponent built to hang in there, a precedent on this court: I see this quarter-final stretching, and one set going the Argentine's way. Maybe the first one, like yesterday.