Andrey Rublev vs Stefanos Tsitsipas Odds & Prediction – ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament Semifinals

• Andrey Rublev and Stefanos Tsitsipas meet for the sixth time – most of them marathon battles
• Tsitsipas was the second favorite behind Daniil Medvedev before the tournament began, Rublev the third.
• Tsitsipas has had an exhausting week. We look at how Rublev can pull off the upset below

Before the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament began in Rotterdam, Australian Open finalist Daniil Medvedev was the heavy favorite to win it all.

But we felt it was too quick a turnaround for Medvedev after a busy trip to Melbourne, a long flight home and no time to process his thumping at the hands of Novak Djokovic in the final.

And so it went. Medvedev was out in the first round to Dusan Lajovic.

Another favorite, Alexander Zverev, was beaten in the first round by Alexander Bublik.

But Tsitsipas and Rublev, seeded No. 2 and No. 4, both made their seeds and reached the semifinals in the bottom half of the draw.

Their clash on Saturday is essentially the tournament final; whomever wins will be the heavy favorite on Sunday.

Andrey Rublev vs Stefanos Tsitsipas Odds

Odds taken March 5 at DraftKings 

Tsitsipas Doing Double-Duty with Brother Petros

With success comes privileges. And Tsitsipas was able to get a wild card with brother Petros into the doubles.

I think my soulmate might be Petros. @abnamrowtt pic.twitter.com/mXeTeI1onC

— Stefanos Tsitsipas (@steftsitsipas) February 28, 2021

Winning their first round meant Tsitsipas had to pull double-duty on Friday, in singles and doubles. It may end up hurting him in Saturday’s semifinal.

Andrey Rublev vs Stefanos Tsitsipas Head-to-Head

The Greek star already looked weary going out again after the singles, even if he did get a second wind in the second set.

Relatively Easy Ride for Rublev

Tsitsipas had to work hard in his first two rounds in singles as well.

Meanwhile, Rublev made relatively routine work of American Marcos Giron and returning veteran Andy Murray.

He’s by far the fresher of the two.

Andrey Rublev vs Stefanos Tsitsipas: Match History

(* Exhibition event for rising stars 21 and under, with special scoring)
(**Challenger-level tournament)

Tsitsipas Won the Last Two Meetings

Whenever these two have met in their careers, it has been surprising when it hasn’t been a long, bruising battle.

The only “routine win” so far was their quarterfinal clash at the French Open last fall. It was won in straight sets by Tsitsipas.

A few months later, on an indoor hard court in London, Tsitsipas barely eked out the victory.

The round-robin match at the ATP Tour Finals was a must-win for Rublev, to remain alive in a quest to make the semifinals.

He had a match point, too.

But he double-faulted on that match point, and went on to lose. That’s how close it was

A Slow Indoor Hard Court Suits Rublev

There have been complaints from the players about how slow the stadium court in Rotterdam is.

Rublev’s edge given the conditions is that he’s still able to blow an opponent off the court with stone-cold winners, no matter how slow the conditions are.

Rublev’s 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 quarterfinal win over France’s Jérémy Chardy on Friday took two hours and 40 minutes, and Rublev looked drained at the end.

But Tsitsipas spent a lot more time on court. He needed 2h42 to beat Rublev’s great friend and doubles partner Karen Khachanov 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. Then, he returned to court with his brother for doubles.

Early Semifinal Slot for Tsitsipas vs Rublev

The two have the early slot for the semifinals Saturday – a 9:00 am EST start. It may take Tsitsipas a while to find his third wind.

So you would expect Rublev to sneak out the first set (+112).

Given the circumstances, the Russian could also be a good bet to win the match, although it promises to be another marathon between the two.

Best Bet: Rublev in three sets (+380)