Tennis acca tips: Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev on course for Bastad final
Andrey Rublev Monte Carlo April 2023
Planet Sport presents a handful of leads for your tennis acca on Saturday 22 July.
The Swedish Open has thrown up a cracking set of semi-finals, and Bastad headlines our picks for Saturday, 22 July 2023.
Saturday will bear witness to a dozen semi-finals across the ATP and WTA Tours.
Here we take a look at a handful of those and pick winners to help you put together an accumulator.
ATP Bastad:
Casper Ruud vs Lorenzo Musetti | Pick: Ruud
ATP Bastad: Francisco Cerundolo vs Andrey Rublev | Pick: Rublev
ATP Gstaad:
Albert Ramos-Vinolas vs Miomir Kecmanovic | Pick: Kecmanovic
ATP Newport:
Ugo Humbert vs Adrian Mannarino | Pick: Mannarino
WTA Budapest:
Maria Timofeeva vs Nadia Podoroska | Pick: Podoroska
ATP Bastad: Casper Ruud vs Lorenzo Musetti
Bastad could not have asked for a better semi-final when the tournament started on Monday.
Casper Ruud will be out to avenge a loss to Lorenzo Musetti at Bercy last term.
Musetti has some big scalps on clay this term, but Ruud is the slender favourite based on his expertise on the surface.
Ruud owns a qualifying win over Musetti on clay from 2019 and sports the better record on the surface this season with 19 wins already in the bank.
ATP Bastad: Francisco Cerundolo vs Andrey Rublev
Francisco Cerundolo and Andrey Rublev come together with a lot of momentum behind them.
Rublev made his Masters breakthrough back at the start of the first clay swing, while Cerundolo claimed a second career title at Eastbourne earlier this month.
Cerundolo beat Rublev on the clay of Hamburg in 2022 in their only previous meeting.
We are likely to see a tight contest, but after seeing off Alexander Zverev in the last round, Rublev looks on for the final.
ATP Gstaad: Albert Ramos-Vinolas vs Miomir Kecmanovic
Second seed Miomir Kecmanovic should be able to outmuscle Spanish veteran Albert Ramos-Vinolas at the Swiss Open.
The Spaniard has spent a lot of time on court this week, which could count against him the semi-final shakeup.
Ramos-Vinolas beat Kecmanovic in their first meeting back in 2019, but since then, the Serbian has come a long way.
Kecmanovic's strength off the wings makes him a challenging prospect to face on clay.
ATP Newport: Ugo Humbert vs Adrian Mannarino
Ugo Humbert would love to snatch the French No 1 position by besting Adrian Mannarino for a second time in their third meeting.
Mannarino however, is perhaps the better player on grass and reached a final on the surface just last month in Mallorca.
Humbert has yet to reach a full ATP Tour semi-final this season, but he does own a win over Mannarino from the French Open.
Form on grass will count for a lot, and that should see Mannarino making progress at the Hall of Fame Open.
WTA Budapest: Maria Timofeeva vs Nadia Podoroska
Nadia Podoroska has already seen off a compatriot in her run to the last four and should have the quality to send qualifier Maria Timofeeva packing.
Timofeeva has spent eight hours on court in Budapest, almost double the amount of time it has taken Podoroska to reach this stage.
The players have not met in competition before, but Podoroska has dropped just one set this week and has been a standout.
There is a dangling carrot of a big rankings jump for Timofeeva, however, Podoroska has found a ruthless edge this week and will be tough to stop.
