Portugal

Joao Sousa

Norway

Casper Ruud

The Portuguese should not be underestimated. Sousa will fight for every point in the first set

Joao Sousa finally broke his losing streak and began to delight his fans. The Portuguese made it to the decider once again. He reached the final in Pune where he defeated Emil Ruusuwori of Finland 7-6, 4-6, 6-1 in three games. In the current competition in Geneva Sousa is looking good. So far he has not lost a single set. Before that Ruud had beaten Spaniard Pablo Anduhar (6-1, 6-4), Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia (6-4, 6-3), Ilya Ivashko of Belarus (7-5, 7-5) and Richard Gasquet of France (6-2, 6-2) in two games. Ruud is now in his third final this season. Kasper won the previous title in Buenos Aires, beating Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 in the decider. The Norwegian also reached the Miami Masters, but lost in two sets to talented Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz Garfia 5-7, 4-6. In the current competition in Geneva, Ruud overcame Frenchman Benoit Pierre (6-3, 6-1), Australian Tanasie Kokkinakis (6-4, 7-6) and American Reilly Opelka (7-6, 7-5). The Norwegian is regarded by the bookies as the clear favourite. Kasper is in good form indeed. However, Sousa should not be underestimated. Joao has really hit his stride in Geneva. It should not be forgotten that the Portuguese won all his matches in two sets. The tennis player got used to the local surface very well. We can expect a spectacular and interesting encounter. The spectators will not be bored in the stands. It is not certain that Sousa will take at least one set from the favourite, but Ruud will definitely have problems. It will be especially hot at the beginning of the match. João has to fight for every point. It's worth betting on Sousa to win the first set with a handicap (+2.5) of a game.