Casper Ruud vs Lorenzo Musetti Prediction & Betting Tips - Bastad, Sweden

Prediction published on 21/07/2023, 13:00  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 21/07/2023 at 23:00 in Tennis Predictions

Top seed Casper Ruud can go back up to fourth in the rankings if reaching the Bastad final. He takes on third seeded Loreno Musetti in the last four of this clay court tournament. Ruud is much more at home this week as he returns to clay after an unsuccessful time on grass. He's aleady won this title two years ago and 2023 has seen him reach the Roland Garros final and win the Estoril clay court tournament. This week has seen him beat unseeded pair Alexander Shevchenko and Sebastian Offner without dropping a set. He's had two previous matches aganst his opponent. 2019 saw Ruud beat Musetti on clay in the first qualifying round of the Rome Masters. Their only main draw meeting was in last year's Paris Masters (indoor hard) with the Italian winning in three sets.

Lorenzo Musetti was ranked 16th at the start of this Swedish Open but is down to 18th in the live rankings. That's because this time last year he was winning the Hamburg Open so is losing those points. The 21-year old got to the last four in Barcelona this year and the fourth round at Roland Garros. He also got to the last eight in Buenos Aries, Marrakech and Monte Carlo so has had a good year on clay. This tournament has seen him have his fair share of problems on the way to the last four. He's lost a set in both of his matches against unseeded Matteo Arnaldi and qualifier Filip Misolic, who he had to come from behind to beat. This is a much tougher assignment and we go for Ruud to get the win.