The fourth and final quarterfinal matchup of the 2021 Davis Cup Finals looks to be the most lopsided matchup as Russia takes on Sweden in Madrid. The Russians are arguably the strongest team in the draw, boasting four players ranked in the top 30, spearheaded by a pair of top 10 stars in Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev. Germany is awaiting the winner of this tie in the semifinals. The Swedish team have already surpassed all expectations by reaching the quarterfinals, can they cause an upset, or will the Russians be too strong?
Davis Cup Finals Quarterfinal Prediction
Russian vs Sweden
Head-to-head: Sweden 5-2 Russia
Probable matchups:
Andrey Rublev vs Elias Ymer
Daniil Medvedev vs Mikael Ymer
Andrey Rublev / Aslan Karatsev vs André Goransson / Robert Lindstedt
The Russian team overcame strong resistance to finish on top of Group A. A 3-0 sweep of Ecuador was easy enough, a 2-1 victory of Spain was much tougher. Rublev was shocked by Feliciano Lopez in the first rubber, before Medvedev steadied the ship with a hard fought 6-2 7-6 win over Pablo Carreno Busta. It was up to the increasingly successful pairing of Rublev and Karatsev to seal the deal with a three-set win over Lopez and Granollers.
Sweden managed to sneak into the quarterfinals despite finishing second in Group B. Sweden were beaten by Kazakhstan 2-1 in their opening tie but were able to secure one of the two second place spots in the eight thanks to a 3-0 drubbing of Canada. Sweden had one of the weakest teams on paper heading into the finals, so it was a great achievement for them to progress to the quarterfinals, anything extra is a major bonus.
It’s hard to see the Russians being overly challenged by this tie. Rublev and Medvedev should be far too strong for the Ymer brothers. Medvedev isn’t going to lose to a player of that level, Rublev seems somewhat vulnerable right now but shouldn’t be too bothered by Ymer. In the highly unlikely scenario where a deciding doubles rubber is needed, the Russian team is still likely to come out on top given how well Rublev and Karatsev have been playing together of late.
Prediction: Russia 2-0 Sweden
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
