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UPDATE: Due to rain on Sunday, match was rescheduled for Monday, April 25.
Fernando Verdasco and Lucas Pouille will meet in the ATP Nastase Tiriac trophy final. It will be the last match to be played in Bucharest, a tournament held here since 1993 on red clay, due to the local authorities closing the stylish, but old center court and refusing to rehabilitate it.
Verdasco did not have a great year so far, failing to reach a single quarterfinal before Bucharest, though he did reach the 2nd or 3rd round in 8 of the 9 tournaments he played. However, Nando really stepped it up this week, playing some excellent tennis, some of the best we saw from him in a long time. Nando had some issues in the first round against Setkic, but after that he demolished Albot, won rather easily against Haase and defeated the defending champion Garcia-Lopez 6-3 3-6 6-2.
Pouille entered Bucharest in fine form, coming after two Round 16 showings at Miami and Monte Carlo, defeating players like Gasquet or Ferrer. He continued on the same note at the Nastase Tiriac Trophy, beating the likes of Lajovic, Karlovic, Lorenzi and Delbonis en route to the final. However, it has to be said that Pouille did look vulnerable at times in this tournament. He almost lost to Lorenzi (maybe should have lost) and benefited from a below – par performance from Delbonis in the semifinals, with the Argentinean seemingly nursing an injury.
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This will be the first meeting between the two players. Both like to play on the red dirt, so the clay in Bucharest will not favor any one of them over the other.
Verdasco has truly been the best player in this tournament and if he doesn`t come up with one of his famous choke – jobs, he should win this. I doubtled Nando throughout the tournament, but he was extremely solid this week, including mentally, so I don`t think he will suffer a meltdown in this final. He lost serve just 4 times in 4 matches, a very solid statistic on clay, particularly as he played two three setters. His win against Garcia-Lopez was really impressive, it was a classy match with Garcia-Lopez playing some fantastic tennis but still falling short to an excellent Verdasco.
Pouille is playing the best tennis of his career and he is clearly in fine form, but he`s still not at an elite level. He showed plenty of weaknesses this week, while Verdasco barely showed any, aside from his first round match.
Simply poor, Fernando Verdasco played the better tennis this week, even though the statistical results of Pouille seem very impressive. The Spaniard is the deserving favorite here and I do not expect an upset, so my tip is Verdasco to win. Look for Nando to dominate with his serve and forehand, as he did in all matches this week and I can also see him exploiting Pouille’s lack of experience at this level. Prediction: Fernando Verdasco – Lucas Pouille 7-6 6-3.
Pick: Verdasco
Odds: 1.65 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 5.20
Event date: 24 April 25 April
