Francisco Cerundolo vs Casper Ruud: Bet on a convincing win for the Norwegian

In the semi-final of the Tennis Masters in Miami, Norwegian Casper Ruud, world number 8, will face Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo. The boys have not played each other so far, and bookmakers think the Norwegian has a good chance of being a finalist at the Florida Masters, which is hard to argue with.

The 23-year-old Argentine, ranked 103rd in the ATP world rankings, was the actual sensation at the Miami Masters. Before the Florida event, Francisco played two events in the States. He crashed out after the first matches in Indian Wells and Phoenix. The Miami tournament, however, was a real highlight for Cerundolo. Before the match against Ruud, Cerundolo knocked out Griekspoor, Monfils and Tiafoe. But the matches against Opelka and Sinner were not completed because of injuries to the American and the Italian. You can say the Argentine was lucky, but you can’t get past the fact that Cerundolo is in excellent form, probably the best in his career.

We will omit the match against Sinner because it was not completed. Let’s take a closer look at Cherundolo’s fight against Tiafoe. The contest against the American lasted two and a half hours, in two sets the lads played tie-breaks, the first set was won by Tiafoe, the second by Cerundolo, and the third game turned out to be the fastest, Francisco won it in 40 minutes 6:2. During the game, Cerundolo served five times on the board, making three double faults. He won 70% of his first serve and 54% of his second serve. On reception, the Argentine player had the following statistics in the game: 34% of points won on Tiafoe’s first serve and 51% on his second serve.

In the match against Zverev, we underestimated Casper Ruud, although we predicted the Norwegian would beat the top German. In the end, Casper beat Alexander in three sets in an hour and 39 minutes. Ruud won the first game 6-3. In the second set, the break came, as the German won the set 6-1. But it wasn’t to be. Ruud pulled himself together, but after an easy win, Zverev relaxed and lost the second game on his serve, which he failed to recover. The result was a very important victory for Ruud, recalling that until then, the Norwegian had never beaten a German.

The upcoming match is of great importance to Casper. The fact is that if he advances to the Miami Masters semi-finals, Casper will move ahead of Andrey Rublev in the rankings to seventh place. Yet so far the Norwegian would not rise higher than seventh place even if he won the Masters. Before beating Zverev, Ruud knocked out the likes of Laaksonen, Bublik and Norrie in Miami. Importantly, Ruud beat them all 2-0. A few more words about the match against Zverev. Ruud was good on his serve in that game, served six times on the court with no double faults, won 79% of points on his first serve and 63% of points on his second serve.

I think Sasha can play better than he did today. But I took advantage of that. I was focused, showed my maximum. Of course, I had a little slump in the second set, but I kept my concentration. I served well in the first and third sets. I think that was the key moment. In the second set, I felt some problems with the tape on my toe. I know it might sound silly, but it was slipping, so it wasn’t very comfortable to move around. Just had to re-tape my toe to avoid problems. Changing socks and so on. It was very good that at the beginning of the third set; I led with a break and could eventually hold it. The serve worked well; I won thanks to it.

Casper Ruud after his win over Alexander Zverev

Let’s be honest. Cerundolo made it to such a high stage of the Masters in Miami not only because of his excellent form but also because Opelka and Sinner failed to play full matches. There are doubts that the Argentine could have passed the pair if they had been in proper form. There is no doubt about Ruud’s current class form. The Norwegian has already taken two rematches in Miami. First, against Bublik for a recent loss in the Davis Cup, and in the quarter-final against Zverev for two defeats in his career. It is unlikely that the upcoming match will be a protracted one, as the fact of the Norwegian’s higher class is clear. Our first bet is W2+Total Under (21.5) for 1.76.

If Casper Ruud advances to the final, it looks like he will have to play someone from the trio of Hurkacz-Medvedev-Alcaraz Garfia. With each of them, as they say, they will have to lay their bones to win. And the Norwegian needs a mega quick win in the semi-finals for maximum return. Thankfully, the Scandinavian’s opponent is not top-notch and can handle it. The second bet is a handicap 2 (-5.5) for 2.32.

TelecomAsia Sport is looking for South American football tipsters (Argentinian and Brazilian national leagues, Copa Libertadores). Contact jobs@telecomasia.net for more information.