After a week of exciting and high quality indoor hard court tennis, it is time for the final the first ATP 500 event of the season in Rotterdam. Stefanos Tsitsipas is the top seed, and is bidding to win his first ATP 500 Title. Felix Auger Aliassime is aiming to win his first ATP Title, and is playing in his ninth ATP Tour final. Here is my prediction for Sunday’s final.
ATP Rotterdam Final Prediction
Felix Auger Aliassime vs Stefanos Tsitsipas
Head to head: 5-2 Tsitsipas
Felix Auger Aliassime reached his ninth ATP Final with an impressive comeback win over Andrey Rublev. The Canadian lost the first set, despite being 0-40 up in two of the Russian’s service games. Auger Aliassime had three set points and failed to convert any of them, losing the first set in a tiebreak. Despite this, the Canadian was able to turn the match around, winning the next two sets 6-2 6-4. Auger Aliassime has failed to take a set in any of his previous ATP finals. However, since last reaching an ATP Final in Stuttgart, the Canadian has had a strong record in grand slams reaching the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, the semifinals at the US Open, and the Quarterfinals of the Australian Open last month. Thus, Auger Aliassime has improved and developed his game. He is better equipped to handle the pressure.
Stefanos Tsitsipas is yet to win an ATP 500 title. Jiri Lehecka pushed the Greek to a third set in their semifinal. However, the Greek’s experience prevailed and his level improved in the third set. Tsitsipas’s level has fluctuated this week. He played brilliant tennis in his wins over Ilya Ivashka and Alex De Minaur. However, he struggled in his opening match of the week against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, as well as in his semifinal against Jiri Lehecka. The Czech overpowered Tsitsipas in the opening set of that match, and Auger Aliassime has the firepower to rush the Greek, especially on his backhand side. It’ll be interesting to see if the number 1 seed can produce his best in the final.
I think this will be a close three set match, however I think Auger Aliassime is playing the best tennis of his career at the moment, and I believe that he will finally win his first ATP Title. I think he will get the win in three sets.
Prediction: Auger Aliassime in 3
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