Seeds Andrey Rublev and Francisco Cerundolo headline the Umag quarterfinal lineup on Thursday. The top-seeded Rublev is facing Fabian Marozsan, while Cerundolo is going up against Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego.
(1) Andrey Rublev vs. Fabian Marozsan
Rublev temporarily saved his season with a 1000-point title in Madrid, but he still faces a steep ranking decline later this summer and fall if he does not turn things around. Since leaving Madrid, the ninth-ranked Russian is 3-5 and went into the Croatia Open on a horrendous four-match losing streak. It remains to be seen if a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Camilo Ugo Carabelli on Tuesday will give Rublev some much-needed momentum.
Standing in the No. 1 seed’s way of the semifinals on Thursday is Marozsan, whose week is off to an impressive start. The 49th-ranked Hungarian scraped past Alexander Shevchenko in a third-set tiebreaker before beating Thiago Monteiro 6-2, 7-6(7). Success on clay is nothing new for Marozsan, who famously upset Carlos Alcaraz en route to the Rome fourth round and won two Challenger titles last season. The 24-year-old is playing with more confidence than Rublev right now and his style of offspeed junk and drop-shots is generally not what you want to be dealing with when your game is struggling–which is certainly the case for Rublev.
Pick: Marozsan in 3
(4) Francisco Cerundolo vs. Lorenzo Sonego
Cerundolo and Sonego will be squaring off for the third time in their careers on Thursday. They have split their two previous encounters; Cerundolo prevailed 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the 2023 Miami fourth round before Sonego scored a 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 victory on the indoor hard courts of Vienna.
Those two result are not at all surprising, as Cerundolo is a borderline Miami specialist and Sonego is the superior indoor hard-court player with a history of success in Vienna. Clay is a good surface for both men, but it’s even better for Cerundolo. The 37th-ranked Argentine won the Bastad title in 2022, has two runner-up finishes on dirt during his ATP career, and pushed Novak Djokovic to five sets at the recent French Open. Cerundolo has been unspectacular in 2024, but he looked decent enough in a 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Matej Dodig on Wednesday. Sonego kicked off his week by outlasting Mili Poljicak 11-9 in a third-set tiebreaker, complete with leg cramps throughout the final three points of the match. The 54th-ranked Italian recovered to defeat Alexandre Muller 7-5, 6-1 in round two, but it has already been a difficult tournament for Sonego and now he runs into a very tough opponent.
Pick: Cerundolo in 3
