We have reached the final of the ATP Generali Open in Kitzbuhel, Austria. Two men remain in contention for the title. Casper Ruud is ranked #14 in the world, and in search of his fourth title of the season and fifth of his career. Pedro Martinez, meanwhile, is in his first career final. Can he win his first title, or will Ruud continue an impressive season? I share my thoughts on the match below. Who do you think will win?
ATP Kitzbuhel Final Prediction
Pedro Martinez vs Casper Ruud
Martinez is barely a Top 100 player. He is in the midst of an impressive run, where he has pulled off a few surprising upsets, but he is still a barely Top 100 player. In fact, Martinez has a career win-loss record below .500. He entered the week at 17-24, so even if he wins the title he won’t have a positive record.
The fact is, as Nick Kyrgios quite astutely, if not tactfully, pointed out on Twitter, that this tournament had a relatively weak entry list, and Ruud stands out. A few of the other seeds in the event are players of or near Ruud’s caliber, but they didn’t get far enough to face the Norwegian. Martinez will be Ruud’s fourth opponent this tournament, and not a single one of them has been ranked in the Top 90.
This match will be on Ruud’s racket. Of course, while he is far more talented than his opponent, he hasn’t showcased that this week. The Norwegian struggled and lost a set against both Mario Vilella Martinez and Mikael Ymer. Martinez, meanwhile, played a great match in the second round to take out Roberto Bautista Agut. If the Spaniard plays that well again, and Ruud doesn’t raise his level, we can see a serious upset here.
Ultimately, I’ll back Ruud. He is the better player and just has way too much ability to raise his game to a level that Martinez can’t reach. He hasn’t shown us this week that he will, but he definitely can. And that’s enough that I can’t trust Martinez to win this.
Prediction: Ruud in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
