Tennis Predictions from Barcelona, Stuttgart, Munich, Rouen & Bucharest
(But no Alcaraz again after pulling out of the Barcelona Open because of fitness issues)
Iga Swiatek, Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud, Aryna Sabalenka & Cori Gauff are among those in action across five ATP and WTA tournaments this week.
Focus on Nadal’s Return, Alcaraz Remains Sidelined
This week the ATP action shifts to Barcelona and there is a buzz around the much-anticipated return of Rafael Nadal. The 12-time Barcelona Open champion has not played on the tour since his quarterfinal defeat in Brisbane in the first week of January.
Fit again, the Spaniard has been drawn against Flavio Cobolli in the first round. If he takes the court, the 22-time Grand Slam champion will be making every effort to get into good shape ahead of next month’s French Open, where he could be chasing a 15th title.
But while Nadal is expected to return, Carlos Alcaraz continues to be sidelined due to an injury.
The 20-year-old had won the tournament in 2022 and 2023, but he will not be able to defend his title this year as he failed to recover from the forearm injury that had also forced him to pull out of the Monte Carlo Masters last week.
There are also two ATP 250 tournaments lined up in Munich and Bucharest this week and women’s action on the tour returns with WTA 500 in Stuttgart and WTA 250 in Rouen.
Here is a look at what’s to expect from the tournaments this week.
Will Nadal go deep into the tournament?
Another Ruud v Tsitsipas Final on Cards?
Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas faced off in the final of the Monte-Carlo Masters last week with the Greek number one going on to win the title.
Both have displayed super form over the last one week. While Ruud accounted for top seed Novak Djokovic in the semifinal, Tsitsipas knocked out the red-hot Jannik Sinner to reach the final.
They were the two most dominant players throughout the week and could carry that form to Barcelona.
Tsitsipas has featured in three Barcelona Open finals, but has not won the tournament yet.
Most recently, he was a finalist last year, where he went down to Carlos Alcaraz.
In contrast, Ruud has not gone beyond the quarterfinals in his three attempts in Barcelona, but it’s been an excellent season for Ruud so far and he is expected to keep that form going in Barcelona.
Apart from his Monte Carlo exploits, Ruud also reached two finals on hard courts in Los Cabos and Acapulco this year.
The Norwegian is seeded number three in Barcelona and will begin his campaign against either Albert Ramos Vinolas or Alexandre Muller in the second round.
He faces a potential third round against Jordan Thompson and a potential quarterfinal against eighth seed Sebastian Baez, who is in poor form currently, but given his two clay titles in Rio and Santiago earlier this year, we are backing him over Nicolas Jarry to reach the last eight in Barcelona.
Ruud is most likely to take on Karen Khachanov in the semifinals.
Why we are backing seventh seed Khachanov over second seed Andrey Rublev to reach the last eight is because Khachanov has been in better form throughout the season, while Rublev is on a three-match losing streak, which includes opening round defeats in Miami and Monte-Carlo.
Khachanov is most likely to take on Roberto Bautista Agut in the second round and faces Cameron Norrie in a potential third round. Khachanov is expected to meet Rublev in the last eight stage, but will the latter make it that far?
He might get tough fight from Tomas Martin Etcheverry in a potential third round.
Photo Credit: si.robi
In the top half, Alcaraz’s withdrawal means Stefanos Tsitsipas is now the favourite to reach the final.
The Greek, who is seeded no. 5, will begin his campaign against Pavel Kotov or Sebastian Ofner.
He could then meet Loreno Musetti in a potential third round and Borna Coric in a potential quarterfinal. If Tsitsipas goes through he could be facing Alex De Minaur in the semifinal. The Aussie is in top form this year and a 22-7 record is a testament to that.
If Nadal wins his opener, he will face De Minaur in the second round and the latter is expected to edge out the legend in that match.
The fourth seed De Minaur could face 16th seed Arthur Fils in a potential third round and sixth seed Ugo Humbert in a potential quarterfinal.
Predicted Barcelona Quarterfinal Line-up
Tsitsipas v Coric
De Minaur v Humbert
Ruud v Baez
Rublev v Khachanov
Predicted Barcelona Semifinal Lineup
Tsitsipas v De Minaur
Ruud v Khachanov
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Rune Eyes Hat-trick in Munich
Holger Rune and Botic van de Zandschulp have been the finalists over the last two years and Rune has won the titles on both the occasions.
This year though, the two can’t meet in the final as they are placed in the bottom half and could meet in the semifinals. But while Rune is expected to go deep, the Dutchman doesn’t bring great form into the tournament.
Van de Zandschulp will face a qualifier in the opener.
If he goes through, he will run into fourth seed Jan-Lennard Struff and that’s where his campaign could come to an end. Struff is coming off a decent showing in Monte Carlo, where he beat Sebastian Baez and Borna Coric en route to the round of 16.
The local hope is also a former finalist in Munich, having finished runner-up in 2021.
But while there aren’t many expectations from the Dutchman this time, there are hopes of Rune going on to complete the hat-trick. Or will someone like Alexander Zverev deny the Dane this year?
Zverev is the top seed and was a winner in 2017 and 2018 but he went down in the round of 16 in 2022 and 2023.
He will begin his campaign in the second round against Jurij Rodionov or Aleksander Vukic and then face Cristian Garin in a potential quarterfinal. Zverev’s semifinal opponent could be third seed Taylor Fritz, who is yet to win on clay this year, but was a semifinalist last year.
In the bottom half, we expect second seed Rune and Struff to meet in the semifinals, with Rune going on to play in the final for the third consecutive year.
Predicted Munich Quarterfinal Lineup
Zverev v Garin
Fritz v Draper
Struff v Auger-Aliassime
Rune v Shevchenko
Martinez Could Upset the Top Seeds in Bucharest
ATP tennis returns to Bucharest after a gap of eight years for the ATP 250 Romanian Open. Francisco Cerundolo, Tallon Griekspoor, Sebastian Korda and Alejandro Tabilo are the top four seeds respectively.
Tabilo is one of the top contenders in that lot. He has done well this year, winning in Auckland and finishing runner-up in Santiago.
Also keep an eye on Pedro Martinez. The eighth seed Spaniard won the Girona Challenger and followed it up with a runner-up finish in Estoril. He could be the surprise winner in Bucharest.
Another player expected to go deep is Mariano Navone. The fifth seed can even upset the top seed Cerundolo, if the two meet in the last eight stage.
Swiatek Looking to Defend Stuttgart Crown
The last two years have seen Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka competing against each other in the final in Stuttgart with Swiatek prevailing on both the occasions.
This year, the Polish player remains the favourite. Bringing a 24-3 season record into the tournament, Swiatek will be looking to capture a third WTA title in 2024, following her title runs in Doha and Indian Wells.
Swiatek is expected to meet Elise Mertens in the second round (we are predicting Mertens will beat Tatjana Maria in the first round).
The world number one is then expected to meet Jelena Ostapenko in a potential quarterfinal and fourth seed and Miami Open runner-up Elena Rybakina in a potential semifinal.
Photo Credit: Peter Menzel
The bottom half will be led by the second seed Aryna Sabalenka.
The Belarusian, who began the season with a runner-up finish in Brisbane and a title defence at the Australian Open, has been a finalist in Stuttgart for three consecutive years in 2021, 2022 and 2023, but she missed out on the title on all three occasions. Could she make it to the final for the fourth year in a row?
She will begin her campaign against Paula Badosa or a qualifier and then could face Anastasia Potapova in a potential quarterfinal.
We are backing last year’s semifinalist Potapova to continue her good form and beat Liudmila Samsonova in the first round and then defeat sixth seed Marketa Vondrousova in a potential second round.
Sabalenka is expected to meet Coco Gauff in a potential semifinal and if she beats the third seed and the top seed also reaches the final, we could see a Swiatek-Sabalenka final for the third consecutive year.
Predicted Stuttgart Quarterfinal Lineup
Swiatek v Ostapenko
Rybakina v Paolini*
Gauff v Zheng
Sabalenka v Potapova
*We are predicting Paolini to make the quarters over seventh seed Ons Jabeur (who has a poor record this year) and Ekaterina Alexandrova (as Paolini has produced better results on clay in recent years than the Russian).
Pavlyuchenkova Favourite in Rouen
World no. 22 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is the top seed in the WTA 250 in Rouen. The 2021 French Open finalist will be playing on clay for the first time this season, but she brings good form into the tournament.
The Russian brings a 17-8 season record into the tournament and will be a firm favourite to lift the title. Second seed Caroline Garcia has been inconsistent, while third seed Anhelina Kalinina hasn’t won anything this season but has notched a few good results this year.
Some other players to keep an eye on? Sloane Stephens, Karolina Pliskova and Japanese wild card Naomi Osaka.
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