Tsitsipas is finally back in the top 10 after a great start to his Clay season where he's currently unbeaten in 2024, with a 10-0 record. He won Monte Carlo and destroyed Ruud in the final and for me there should be no reason for him to not be the favorite once again. He had difficult matches against Lajovic and especially Diaz Acosta in Barcelona this week, where he had to comeback from 5-2 down in the 3rd set tiebreak but that just shows me that he continues to be great in clutch situations just like he was in Monte Carlo when he saved a lot of break points against Casper Ruud.
When it comes to scorelines Ruud had an easier time in Barcelona compared to Tsitsipas but the greek faced a lot of difficult matchups for his backhand and Diaz Acosta was probably the most tricky with a powerful lefty forehand who could target his one handed backhand.
People are probably going for Ruud's side since he already lost in Monte Carlo and should have less pressure to win it here but for me that's not true at all... If he continues to lose finals in big moments he'll just be labeled as a 250 level player who was never able to really win in the biggest stages. Both players never won a final at an ATP 500 and Tsitsipas already lost 3 of those in Barcelona but they were against Nadal and Alcaraz. He now knows that Ruud is a much more favorable matchup and he clearly knew how to beat him in Monte Carlo, even with his 1st serve showing up at really low percentages.
Last week we had Tsitsipas only at around 1.70 odds to beat Ruud in Monte Carlo and for me one week is not enough for this matchup to change at all. Tsitsipas is showing a great game again and in Barcelona he already got himself out of situations that Ruud could never. With this, I'll go again with Tsitsipas this time at 2.01 odds to beat Ruud in this final!
1 @2,00 Bet365
5:7 3:6
[Tennis- ATP Barcelona] 21.4/ 16:00 S.Tsitsipas- C.Ruud
1 @2,00
