Citi Open 2022: Emil Ruusuvuori vs. Mikael Ymer Tennis Pick and Prediction

TennisSection previews the 2022 Citi Open as Mikael Ymer takes on Emil Ruusuvuori in the third round on Thursday, August 4th, 2022.

After earning a shock victory over Hubert Hurkacz in the last round, Emil Ruusuvuori will look to keep up his excellent form at the Citi Open. But the Finn faces the sturdy Swede MiakelYmer for a place in the quarterfinals. Who will prevail?

Mikael Ymer ‘s debut appearance at the Citi Open has been a revelation. The Swedish World No. 115 played bravely in his first-round match where he defeated three-time Grand Slam winner Andy Murray in three sets. And Ymer proved that win over the former World No. 1 was no fluke as he mastered Russia’s Aslan Karatsev in his Round of 32 encounter on sunbathed Court 4. Ymer recovered from a second-set wobble, and even in one of his worst-serving displays of the season, he still managed to keep Karatsev at bay. His bid to re-enter the top 100 is gathering pace and has a massive opportunity to do so when he takes on Emil Ruusuvori for a place in the last eight.

Emil Ruusuvuori, for his part, scored one of the biggest wins of his career on Wednesday afternoon at the Citi Open. The hard hitting Finn outmuscled second seed Hubert Hurkacz, which is no mean feat on a hard court, to advance into the third round. Ruusuvuori saved all four break points he faced on his serve. In the end the lone break he garnered in the first set and a second set tiebreak clinched the win. Hurkacz rained down 10 aces, but couldn’t keep up with Ruusuvuori’s depth for the best part of an hour and 44 minutes.

Emil Ruusuvuori leads Mikael Ymer 2-0 in their head-to-head. Both meetings were contested at tour-level last season. Ruusuvori defeated the young Swede in Miami and most recently in Ymer’s home country at the Bastad Open. Since dropping the first set 6-1 to McDonald a couple of days ago, Ruusuvuori has not looked back. His crisp hitting and bold approach behind the return were rewarded immensely against the powerful Hurbert Hurkacz. Ymer is not the same mold as the Pole, but should provide stiff competition. But nonetheless, on the back of such a fine win over a high-caliber opponent, Ruusuvuori has this one locked in.