Gstaad 2022: Casper Ruud vs Jaume Munar preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick | Swiss Open
Match Details
Fixture: (1) Casper Ruud vs Jaume Munar.
Date: July 22, 2022.
Tournament: Swiss Open 2022.
Round: Quarterfinal.
Venue: Gstaad, Switzerland.
Category: ATP 250.
Surface: Clay.
Prize money: €534,555.
Match timing: Not before 2:30 pm local time, 8:30 am ET, 12:30 pm GMT and 6 pm IST.
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video | Canada - TSN.
Casper Ruud vs Jaume Munar preview
Top seed Casper Ruud will continue his title defense against Jaume Munar in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Swiss Open on Friday.
After an opening-round bye, Ruud was up against Jiri Lehecka in the second round. The defending champion began the match by saving five break points to hold his serve. He then secured a break of serve on his fifth break point in the sixth game to go 4-2 up. The Norwegian didn't squander the lead and soon closed out the set.
Ruud had break-point chances across a couple of games in the second set as well, but failed to step up. He finally got the decisive break in the seventh game, doing so on his fifth break point of the game.
A few games later, the 23-year old served out the match to win 6-3, 6-4 and notch up his fifth consecutive victory in Gstaad.
QF BOUND ✅
@CasperRuud98 takes out Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 6-4.
@SwissOpenGstaad | #SwissOpenGstaad https://t.co/25KZ7aaaSk
After a tough three-set win over Bernabe Zapata Miralles, Jaume Munar set up a second-round contest against Alexander Ritschard.
The duo held steady across the first four games of the opening set. The Spaniard then won three games in a row to lead 5-2, and after a hold of serve from his opponent, served out the set.
Munar started the second set on a strong note as well, securing an early break to lead 2-0. Ritschard had his chances to get back in the match, holding a total of five break points over the next two service games, but failed to rise to the occasion.
With Ritschard serving to stay in the match at 5-3, Munar broke serve for the final time to win 6-3, 6-3 and reach his second quarterfinal of the year.
Casper Ruud vs Jaume Munar head-to-head
Ruud leads Munar 1-0 in the head-to-head. He won their previous encounter at the 2018 Swedish Open in three sets.
Casper Ruud vs Jaume Munar odds
All odds are sourced from BetMGM.
Casper Ruud vs Jaume Munar prediction
Both players favor clay over other surfaces. Ruud has been pretty good on the red dirt this year, finishing as the runner-up at the French Open a few weeks ago. He won two titles on the surface at the Argentina Open and the Geneva Open as well.
The Norwegian also looked pretty decent against Lehecka in the second round, especially after an early exit from last week's Swedish Open.
Munar, meanwhile, improved upon his first-round performance by doing quite well against Ritschard in the second round. He didn't get broken even once, though an area of concern would be his serve as he coughed up five double faults.
Ruud wasn't that effective when it came to break points, going 2/15. Against a more seasoned opponent like Munar, letting so many chances go to waste could end his title defense. However, the Spaniard's 1-9 record against top 10 players doesn't instill much confidence in his chances of doing well.
Munar will need to step up his game by a huge margin if he wants to win this upcoming contest. Both are quite steady from the baseline, but Ruud has more weapons to work with. The defending champion is likely to move on to the next round without too much of a fuss.
Pick: Casper Ruud to win in straight sets.