It is down to the final four at the ATP Tata Open Maharashtra in Pune, and with no Top 80 players left in the draw, getting the title is a huge opportunity for a breakthrough. As always, we here at LWOT will preview and predict every match. Who do you think will reach the final in Pune?
ATP Pune Semifinals Predictions
Emil Ruusvuori vs Kamil Majchrzak
H2H: Ruusuvuori 1-0 Majchrzak
A meeting of two players with lots of firepower here in the semifinals. Ruusuvuori is in his second semifinal of the year already after starting at a 250 in Melbourne, though the Finn certainly has a better shot reaching the final here than he did against Rafael Nadal in Australia. The 22-year-old is yet to drop a set in his victories over Egor Gerasimov, Vit Kopriva, and, most recently, defending champion Jiri Vesely. His opponent, Kamil Majchrzak, is in his first ATP-level semifinal at 26 years old after upsetting the second seed Lorenzo Musetti 6-4 in the third. The Pole is likely to break into the Top 80 for the first time in his career and is on a mission to establish himself as a main tour regular this year.
Ruusuvuori has won their previous meeting, defeating Majchrzak in four sets at last year’s US Open. The 22-year-old has looked unstoppable at times in Pune so far and I see him as the favorite for the title at this point.
Prediction: Ruusuvuori in 2
Elias Ymer vs Joao Sousa
H2H: Sousa 3-0 Ymer
When the draw came out for Pune, it was clear that many lower-ranked players would see this is as an opportunity to shine on the main tour and that is exactly what happened. Elias Ymer, the qualifier who took out top seed Aslan Karatsev, has been very strong in Pune. The Swede is now 7-1 in 2022 and has dropped only one set in his five-match run here so far. Most recently, Ymer beat eighth seed Stefano Travaglia in two tight sets to reach his first tour-level quarterfinal of his career.
The experienced Joao Sousa surprised me in the quarterfinals, allowing fifth seed Daniel Altmaier just five games. The 32-year-old struggled in his first two wins against Arjun Kadhe and Gianluca Mager but is now back in his first ATP-level semifinal since September 2019. If Sousa were to get his fourth title here, he would re-enter the Top 100 for the first time in almost a year.
Sousa has won all three of their previous meetings, all of which have been in Sweden, funnily enough (twice in Bastad, once at Davis Cup in Stockholm). Ymer is in very good form so the match certainly will not be easy for Sousa. Howver, the Portuguese is better at ending points than Ymer, which is more helpful than prolonging rallies on hard courts.
Prediction: Sousa in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
