ATP Finals 2022: Casper Ruud vs Taylor Fritz preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (3) Casper Ruud vs (8) Taylor Fritz.
Date: November 15, 2022.
Tournament: ATP Finals 2022.
Round: Round robin.
Venue: Pala Alpitour, Turin, Italy.
Category: Year-ending championships.
Surface: Indoor hardcourt.
Prize money: $14,750,000.
Match timing: Not before 9 pm local time, 8 pm GMT, 3 pm ET and 1:30 am IST.
Live telecast: USA – Tennis Channel | UK – Amazon Prime Video | India - Sports 18 & Voot.
Casper Ruud vs Taylor Fritz preview
2022 French Open and US Open finalist Casper Ruud will square off against World No. 9 Taylor Fritz in the group stage of the 2022 ATP Finals on Tuesday.
Ruud was up against Felix Auger-Aliassime in his first group match. Both players were incredibly solid during their service games and had no break point opportunities at all in the opening set. The set eventually went into a tie-break, with the Norwegian gaining the upper hand to nab the set.
The duo remained unshakeable on serve for the better part of the second set. Ruud bagged the decisive break in the seventh game to lead 4-3. The match came to an end pretty soon after that, as the World No. 4 won 7-6 (4), 6-4.
Taylor Fritz took on Rafael Nadal in his first round-robin match. While he remained steady on serve, he had a few break point chances that he squandered. He made up for it by playing some smart tennis in the ensuing tie-break to take the opening set.
The pair started the second set with a hold of serve by each of them, following which Fritz reeled off five games in a row to win the match 7-6 (3), 6-1. The American now stands atop the green group leaderboard due to his victory over Nadal.
Casper Ruud vs Taylor Fritz head-to-head
This will be the first meeting between them, so the head-to-head stands at 0-0 for now.
Casper Ruud vs Taylor Fritz odds
All odds sources from BetMGM.
Casper Ruud vs Taylor Fritz prediction
Both put up a commanding performance to commence their ATP Finals campaign with a win. Neither of them faced a break point as well. While Ruud isn't the first player who comes to mind when one pictures a player with a dominating serve, he's pretty solid with it.
The Norwegien was able to handle Auger-Aliassime with ease and ended the match with 19 winners and five unforced errors. Fritz proved to be too solid for Nadal, serving quite well and playing with controlled aggression mixed with some impeccable defense. The American smacked 23 winners compared to 10 unforced errors.
Ruud's consistency is often able to get the better of big hitters like Fritz. The former has been able to make quite a few adjustments to improve his game on hardcourts. He looked quite at home in these fast indoor conditions, which is a far cry from his favored surface, clay.
The winner of this match is likely to be assured of a place in the semifinals. Heading into the tournament, both players looked a little out of form, but have made a strong start here. It's likely to be a closely contested battle if they replicate their performances from the previous match. Ruud is a more steady player between them and will be favored to come through this clash.
Pick: Casper Ruud to win in three sets.