The Barcelona Open is finally down to the final two players who will be world number 7 Stefanos Tsitsipas and world number 6 Casper Ruud. These two players last faced each other in the Monte Carlo Masters where it was the Tsitsipas who emerged victorious and won his 3rd Monte Carlo title. This will be the moment when Ruud can finally avenge his loss at Monte Carlo and announce himself in the current clay season. There is certainly a lot riding on this game.
The rivalry between the two has been neck and neck as well where in the last four encounters both the players have won 2 each. This will be the moment when one of the players can get ahead. This will not only be a great redemption moment for Ruud, but it will also be an opportunity for Stefanos Tsitsipas to finally get his hands on the title that has slipped away from his grasp on three occasions. Overall a lot is riding for both the players in this final encounter.
ATP jinx to be broken by one of the players
Though we have already discussed what is riding on this match there is another monkey on both the player's backs which they will want to move off in the encounter. Both Tsitsipas and Ruud have been dealing with their own ATP jinx for a while now. The Barcelona Open is not the only ATP 500 tournament that Tsitsipas has dealt with a lot of painful losses. The Greek god has played 10 ATP 500 finals and has lost all 10 of them.
Tsitsipas has been part of three Barcelona Open finals, one Rotterdam Open, two Dubai Championship finals, one Mexican Open, Hamburg European, China Open and the defunct Almaty Open final and has lost all of them. Speaking of Casper Ruud, he has not had the best of luck outside ATP 250 where he has featured in 7 finals as well and is yet to win a championship.
With these stats, we surely can expect another thriller of a final between these two top-class players. It will be a happy moment for everyone since one of the players will be breaking the jinx. The question is who will be the one to do it? This final will surely be a high point for whoever wins the match. It is safe to say we are in for an epic clash in Barcelona where both players will be looking for their first title not only of the Barcelona Open but also their first ATP 500 title as well.