Quarterfinal spots in Stockholm will be handed out on Wednesday, when No. 2 seed Casper Ruud begins his week against Marin Cilic. Sweden’s own Leo Borg will have an upset on his mind when he faces Denis Shapovalov.
Marin Cilic v. (2) Casper Ruud
Ruud and Cilic will be going head-to-head for the fourth time in their careers when they clash in round two of the Nordic Open on Wednesday. All three of their previous meetings have gone Ruud’s way; he has prevailed twice on clay (most recently in four sets in the 2022 French Open semifinals) and once on hard courts (6-3, 3-6, 6-3 at the Toronto Masters).
All of their matchups have been competitive, and an indoor surface could push Cilic over the hump. The 37-year-old Croat has always been a force in these conditions and he has the benefit of having already played a match in Stockholm, beating Nicolai Budkov Kjaer 7-5, 6-3 on Tuesday. Ruud has enjoyed some success indoors, but it has come with inconsistency. Moreover, the 12th-ranked Norwegian retired from his opening match in Shanghai. This is a nice opportunity for Cilic to pull off a minor upset.
Pick: Cilic in 3
(WC) Leo Borg vs. (3) Denis Shapovalov
Shapovalov already owns one indoor hard-court title this season, having triumphed at the Dallas ATP 500 in February. In fact, three of the 23rd-ranked Canadian’s four titles have come indoors. Shapovalov has been all over the place this year, with plenty of strong results (including a second title in Los Cabos) mixed in with tons of early exits. Given that he generally plays well indoors, the good version of Shapovalov should be on display in Stockholm–where he captured his first ATP title in 2019
Up first for the No. 3 seed on Wednesday is a first-ever meeting with Borg. The 22-year-old Swede is ranked 622nd in the world and his career-high mark is No. 334. As such, Borg plays almost exclusively in Futures and Challengers–only making main-tour appearances when he gets wild cards at Swedish tournaments. He is 5-11 lifetime at the ATP level after defeating Sebastian Ofner 6-3, 6-4 on Monday. Simply making it to round two is a great result for Borg, but this is almost certainly where his week ends.
Pick: Shapovalov in 2
