Emil Ruusuvuori vs Brandon Nakashima Prediction: Number 45 ATP vs number 46 ATP Can it get closer than this?

In another encounter in Monday's first round event in 's-Hertogenbosch, Finnish player Emil Ruusuvuori will play against fellow American Brandon Nakashima who, after an injury, is in good form to start the grass season.

Ranked nr.45 in the world, the Finnish player ended last week's tournament of Roland Garros with a defeat vs Dimitrov, able then to reach the quarterfinals. He played well during the tournament; however, Dimitrov, previously top 10 ATP, was too much for him. Here he plays against a different breed, Nakashima, who is right behind him in the ATP ranking, making it a very close match for both, that have already played twice and have an even outcome. 

The Japanese was born in the USA. He's slowly making his way up in the ranking following the Next Gen finals of 2021. Right now, he's number 46 in the ATP ranking, just behind Ruusuvuori, and a win here would help me gain some other positions. In the Roland Garros tournament, he lost against Shapovalov in the third round in a 5-set match, losing a great opportunity to proceed to the next stage where he would have played against Alcaraz. At the moment, he's parred level with Ruusuvuori, and both encounters happened on a hard surface before, a different game from the first grass tournament of the year, played here in the Netherlands.

With both players in the top 50 rankings separated only by a few points, the match should be decided by details. We believe the first set can give way for a win to one or the other and shall be very intense.