Tennis acca tips: Casper Ruud to keep rolling towards another title
- James Richardson
- 20 July 2023
Here Planet Sport selects a handful of matches to preview and picks winners to help you put together your tennis accumulator on Friday 21 July 2023.
The post-Wimbledon week is winding towards its conclusion and we know who is playing well and who needs to step up.
The action is in Bastad, Gstaad, Newport, Budapest and Palermo this week with plenty at stake.
Here we make a few picks from selected matches to help you put together your slip on Friday.
ATP Bastad:
Casper Ruud vs Sebastian Ofner | Pick: Ruud
ATP Bastad:
Lorenzo Musetti vs Filip Misolic | Pick: Musetti
ATP Gstaad:
Juan Pablo Varillas vs Albert Ramos-Vinolas | Pick: Ramos-Vinolas
ATP Gstaad:
Zizou Bergs vs Miomir Kecmanovic | Pick: Kecmanovic
ATP Newport:
Mackenzie Mcdonald vs Alex Michelsen | Pick: Mcdonald
ATP Newport:
Tommy Paul vs John Isner | Pick: Paul
WTA Budapest:
Nadia Podoroska vs Elina Avanesyan | Pick: Podoroska
WTA Budapest:
Maria Timofeeva vs Kaja Juvan | Pick: Timofeeva
WTA Palermo:
Sara Sorribes Tormo vs Clara Burel | Pick: Sorriber Tormo
WTA Palermo:
Emma Navarro vs Qinwen Zheng | Pick: Zheng
ATP Bastad: Casper Ruud vs Sebastian Ofner
Casper Ruud looked sharp in his last 16 triumph over Alexander Shevchenko and faces another player outside the top 50 in the last eight.
Ruud has not crossed paths with Austrian Sebastian Ofner before on the ATP Tour.
Ofner has spent over four and a half hours on court already this week, needing three sets to get through the first and second round.
Anything can happen on the day but it is impossible to look beyond Ruud as the man to progress to the semis.
ATP Bastad: Lorenzo Musetti vs Filip Misolic
Lorenzo Musetti is pushing to break into the top ten while Filip Misolic has yet to crack the top 100.
There are no formalities but Musetti has a win over Novak Djokovic on clay this season.
According to the form rule there is only one winner of this contest and that is Italy's world No 16 Musetti.
These two players have also not played one another in competition at this stage of their careers.
ATP Gstaad: Juan Pablo Varillas vs Albert Ramos-Vinolas
Peru's Juan Pablo Varillas is enjoying a great run in Gstaad this week but comes up against veteran Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
Ramos-Vinolas has won three of the four meetings between the players over the years.
However, it is Varillas who won the last meeting between the two at the Lyon Open in May.
Ramos-Vinolas has had to battle through two tough three-setters to reach this stage and has shown too much determination to let it slip now.
ATP Gstaad: Zizou Bergs vs Miomir Kecmanovic
Miomir Kecmanovic should hold an edge over Belgium's Zizou Bergs when they meet at the Swiss Open.
This is yet another first time meeting between two players who have been on tour together for seven years.
Bergs has had to fight through qualifying to get to this stage as well and he might be feeling the effects of his exertions and over eight hours spent on court.
Kecmanovic by contrast has played just once and comfortably saw off Dominic Stricker to reach the quarter-finals.
ATP Newport: Mackenzie Mcdonald vs Alex Michelsen
Mackenzie Mcdonald has a full ten years on 18-year-old compatriot Alex Michelsen ahead of their first ATP Tour meeting.
Mcdonald has endured a mixed season but would be expected to do away with the whipper-snapper in quick time.
The 28-year-old is chasing his third ATP Tour semi-final of the season.
McDonald is 5-5 against fellow Americans this season but he has won his last two matches against countrymen.
ATP Newport: Tommy Paul vs John Isner
There is no better place than the Hall of Fame Open for a player to roll back the years and John Isner has done that well this week.
Isner may not move quite like he used to but on the fast grass of Newport his big serve is a huge weapon.
Tommy Paul will have to put in a shift if he is to get past the veteran and book another last four date.
Isner has won both of the previous meetings between the two players but Paul has progressed significantly in the intervening period.
WTA Budapest: Nadia Podoroska vs Elina Avanesyan
Nadia Podoroska's game this week has been among the highlights of the Hungarian Grand Prix but she faces another in-form compatriot in Elina Avanesyan in the quarters.
Interestingly both players won their second round match by the same scoreline of 6-3, 6-0 and both are riding high on confidence.
Podoroska won the only previous meeting between the two players which took place in April of this year.
With the calmness about her play this week, Podoroska should be the clear favourite.
WTA Budapest: Maria Timofeeva vs Kaja Juvan
Lucky Loser Maria Timofeeva has made the most of her lifeline after bombing out of the qualifying tournament winning twice in the main draw to reach her first WTA quarter-final of the season.
Kaja Juvan needed to come through qualifying but did so without any lifelines and has played solid tennis all week.
Juvan was tested in her last outing but coming through a three-setter will serve her well in this match.
For both players a WTA 250 semi-final would be something of a breakthrough but it looks like Juvan is better placed to make it happen.
WTA Palermo: Sara Sorribes Tormo vs Clara Burel
Sara Sorribes Tormo has some big scalps in her locker this season but will need to guard against complacency against Clara Burel.
Sorribes Tormo is 2-0 against Burel and all signs point to her making it a hat-trick in Palermo.
Burel has had a tougher path to the last four but will still need to up her game considerably.
Sorribes Tormo beat Burel with relative ease when they met in Paris at the end of May.
WTA Palermo: Emma Navarro vs Qinwen Zheng
Emma Navarro will need to find something special to defeat future star Qinwen Zheng.
The rising Chinese prospect is an incredible player tipped to do great things in this sport.
Navarro did beat Zheng as a junior at the French Open but since then the world No 26 has enjoyed the greater successes.
This will be their first full WTA Tour meeting and a shot at a semi-final place.
