The ATP Serbia Open in Belgrade draws to a close with the Sunday final and it is sure to not disappoint as the top two seeds will face off for the title. It’s the match everyone has been waiting for all week and a real test for Novak Djokovic as he will play his first Top 10 opponent of the year, Andrey Rublev. The Serb will have the obvious home advantage though the Russian has had better form in 2022. Who do you think will take the title?
ATP Belgrade Final Prediction
Novak Djokovic vs Andrey Rublev
Head-to-head: Djokovic 1-0 Rublev
To say that Djokovic has had a difficult year would be a severe understatement, from the vaccination saga in Australia, through temporarily losing his spot on the top of the ATP ranking, to his tough loss to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in Monte Carlo to start his clay season. Though it was not always pretty this week, the 34-year-old got what he needed the most out of this week– matchplay. He almost flunked out in his opener again in Belgrade against compatriot Laslo Djere, who failed to close out what could have been the best win of his career in the second round.
Djokovic continued to have tough matches, having to come back from a set down in the quarterfinals and semifinals, though that was against more difficult opponents in Miomir Kecmanovic and Karen Khachanov. The encouraging sign for Djokovic will be that he only lost three games in the last two sets he played when he took out Khachanov in the semifinals.
Rublev also began with a struggle, going a set down to Jiri Lehecka in his second-round opener. The 24-year-old entered a different gear after the early scare though, beating Taro Daniel 6-3 6-3 and allowing Fabio Fognini only four games in the semifinals.
The bookmakers see Djokovic as a pretty strong favorite but I disagree and believe Rublev will get his third title of the year here. Djokovic has had sloppy moments in every one of his matches so far and Rublev should be good enough to punish him for those. It would take a truly back-to-his-best Djokovic to win here.
Prediction: Rublev in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
