St. Petersburg Open: Andrey Rublev vs. Denis Shapovalov 10/17/20 Tennis Prediction

It is the battle we have all been hoping for here in St. Petersburg as Andrey Rublev meets Denis Shapovalov in the semifinals of the 2020 St. Petersburg Open on Saturday, October 17th 2020. Who will get one step closer to potentially reaching the Nitto ATP Finals next month, will it be the world no.10 or the world no.12?

Denis Shapovalov put on a solid performance against Stan Wawrinka in the quarterfinals on Friday in what seemed to be a very tough encounter early on in the first set. Wawrinka looked the better player and had about 4 break points here until Shapovalov was able to save all and break himself. Shapovalov showed us his mental strength in that match and his ability to be clutch in tight moments. Shapovalov was serving for the match in the second set and got nervous, giving Wawrinka two break points, but eventually managed to save them and win the match 6-4/7-5. Shapovalov will have to ensure he is playing at his best level against Rublev who will not let mistakes like that go by easily.

Andrey Rublev has been superb here all tournament and he is my favourite to win this match and the entire tournament. Rublev eased through Cameron Norrie, beating the Brit 6-2/6-1. Rublev is becoming a top top top player, and he is also one of the favourites to make it to the ATP Finals this year as long as he moves one spot up in the rankings. Rublev is in his home here and he will have the majority of the crowd backing him (even though Shapovalov is part-Russian).

This is the fourth meeting between both players and it is going to be such an exciting encounter. Denis Shapovalov leads the head to head 2-1 and won their two most recent meetings in 2019, however, since then Rublev has been the better player compared to Denis. Rublev has won 3 titles this season and he is definitely the favourite to win a 4th here in Russia. Also Rublev is closer to reaching the ATP Finals and he knows a win here will give him an extremely strong chance of making it to London. I think Rublev wins this battle.