Nordea Open 2022: Pablo Carreno Busta vs. Francisco Cerundolo Tennis Pick and Prediction

TennisSection previews the 2022 Nordea Open as Francisco Cerundolo takes on Pablo Carreno Busta in the semifinal on Saturday, July 16th, 2022.

Will it be Francisco Cerundolo who gets to the final of the Nordea Open? Or will Pablo Carreno Busta repeat his near flawless performance from the quarterfinals? This should be an entertaining last four showdown in Bastad.

Francisco Cerundolo kept his dream of winning his first ATP title alive with a comprehensive win over Aslan Karatsev. After a tight first set in which both players exchanged service breaks twice, it was Cerundolo who upped the ante towards the end of the set, breaking Karatsev for the third time to clinch it 7-5. The second set was one-way traffic, as the Argentine pinned Karatsev behind the baseline and dominated proceedings. With the win, Cerundolo is now into his second semifinal of the season and will be looking to reach his second ATP final of his career when he takes on fifth seed Pablo Carreno Busta.

Pablo Carreno Busta, meanwhile, advanced into his first semifinal in five tries at the Nordea Open following a devastating beatdown of the number three seed Diego Schwartzman. Carreno Busta won 6-1 6-0 in just 67 minutes and called it his match of the season. It was an absolute shellacking that raised so many eyebrows. It is almost unthinkable that a player of Schwartman’s reputation only managed to win one game on a clay court, but as the head-to-head suggests, this is the kind of matchup the Argentine does not have a lot of joy. The Spaniard improves to 4-1 over Schwartzman in their one-sided rivalry.

Francisco Cerundolo and Pablo Carreno Busta have not played each other on the ATP Tour. Saturday’s match at the NordeaOpen will be their first official meeting. Cerundolo won’t be fazed by the occasion, now that he has solidified his presence in the world’s top 40. His first career top 10 win over Casper Ruud this week is going to be the catalyst to even greater success in the near future. This will be close, and backing the upset is worth considering.