Francis Tiafoe reached the semi-finals in Stockholm a year ago, losing only to eventual champion Tommy Paul. In 2022, Tommy started here with a hard-fought victory over local Elias Ymer. Now he faces a more serious opponent, Emil Ruusuvuori, who defeated Francis in his only head-to-head encounter. The match will start on October 21 at 18:30.
Bookmaker Ratings: Prediction #1 – Handicap (+3) for Ruusuvuori – 1.49.
Bookmaker Ratings: Prediction #2 – Total Games Over 22 – 1.66.
Tiafoe won his previous victory with great difficulty. He overcame Ymer on two tie-breaks. The match against Ruusuvuori should not be an easy one either.
Both opponents have a strong serve in their arsenal. This automatically increases the likelihood of a long match. There have been four tie-breaks in Tiafoe’s last two matches. This match is likely to be a topsy-turvy one as well.
Tiafoe’s defence of last year’s semi-final began with a hard-fought victory. Elias Ymer took advantage of the support from the stands and put up a fierce fight against Francis. He won in only three sets (3-6, 7-6, 7-6).
It is worth noting that Francis is having the best season of his career. Most recently, he played in the semi-finals of the US Open, after that there was also a final in Tokyo. In the world rankings, the US representative is ranked 17th.
Tiafoe has won six of his last seven matches.
Emil was forced to start in Stockholm from the first round. He had no problem with that. First, Emil left no chance against Joao Sousa (6-3, 6-2). After that, Jiri Lehecka was defeated (6-2, 6-2).
It should be noted that Ruusuvuori has not been impressive recently. The last time he played in a quarter-final was in June. It was at a tournament in London. After that, the Finn was always knocked out in the first or second round of other tournaments.
Ruusuvuori has lost five of his last six matches as an underdog.
Type of Court – Indoor Hard
Speed of Court – 7/10
Tiafoe’s Rating – 17
Frances Tiafoe Wins/Losses in 2022 – 33/21
Ruusuvuori’s Rating – 52
Emil Ruusuvuori Wins/Losses in 2022 – 40/30
In 4 of Emil’s last 5 matches, the minimum number of sets have been played. We offer to bet on “Total Sets – Under 2.5” with odds of 1.57.
Four tie-breaks have been played in Tiafoe’s last two matches. We offer to bet on “Tie-Break – Yes” with odds of 1.98.
Ruusuvuori leads with a score of 1-0 in the head-to-head matches. The only time they met was at the Canadian Open in 2021. In that game, Ruusuvuori defeated Tiafoe (6-1, 6-4) in two sets.
The match will be played at Center Court, Kungliga tennishallen, Stockholm, Sweden.
We recommend checking out the odds for the 2022 Stockholm Open: Tiafoe vs Ruusuvuori at 1xBet.