Maharashtra Open 2022: Emil Ruusuvuori vs Vit Kopriva preview, head-to-head & prediction

Match details

Fixture: (6) Emil Ruusuvuori vs Vit Kopriva

Date: 3 February 2022

Tournament: Tata Open Maharashtra

Round: Second round (Round of 16)

Venue: Pune, India

Category: ATP 250

Surface: Outdoor Hardcourt

Prize money: $493,875

Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video | India - Star Sports, Jio TV and Disney Plus | Official Facebook, Twitter pages and YouTube channel of the Maharashtra Open

Emil Ruusuvuori vs Vit Kopriva preview

World No. 87 Emil Ruusuvuori will square off against qualifier Vit Kopriva in the second round of the 2022 Maharashtra Open on Thursday.

Ruusuvuori, seeded No. 6, defeated Egor Gerasimov 6-0, 7-6(11) in the first round of the Maharashtra Open. After a flawless first set by the sixth seed, things were evenly matched between the two in the second set. In the tie-break, the Finn saved five set points and needed three match points of his own to close out the proceedings.

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The World No. 87 made a strong start to the year by reaching the semifinals of the Melbourne Summer Set where he lost to Rafael Nadal. However, his Australian Open campaign ended in disappointment as he lost a tough five-set match against Felix Auger-Aliassime in the first round.

He has bounced back nicely and will look to make a deep run in the Indian city.

Vit Kopriva at the 2022 Bendigo International.

After coming through qualifying, Vit Kopriva defeated Cem Ilkel 6-4, 6-2 in the first round of the Maharashtra Open, his second ATP tournament. The Czech mainly competes on the Challenger circuit, but is working his way to the top.

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He played his maiden ATP event at last year's Swiss Open, where he stunned World No. 10 Denis Shapovalov in the first round. He made it all the way to the semifinals, where he lost to Casper Ruud in straight sets. In the process, Kopriva became just the second player since 2012 to reach the semifinals of an ATP event on debut.

He'll be hoping to repeat his performance from his first ATP event in Maharashtra.

Emil Ruusuvuori vs Vit Kopriva head-to-head

This will be the first meeting between the two players, so the head-to-head is currently tied at 0-0.

Emil Ruusuvuori vs Vit Kopriva prediction

Given Ruusuvuori's ranking and vast experience compared to his opponent, he'll enter this encounter as the favorite. He's got a reliable and accurate serve, which helps him dictate the points. His groundstrokes are steady and he plays quite well from the baseline.

Kopriva is the underdog in this matchup, but he has upset players ranked higher than him in the past. He has displayed the potential to go toe-to-toe with more experienced players but lacks consistency.

Both players will be looking to make a deep run to boost their rankings, but Ruusuvuori's experience should help him sail through the match if the going gets tough.

Prediction: Emil Ruusuvuori to win in straight sets.

About the author

Rohit is a journalist at Sportskeeda who specializes in covering tennis. Having been with the company for three years, he has proven himself as a formidable force in the field. With a Master's degree in law, Rohit brings his analytical and research skills to the forefront as a journalist. He stays on top of the game by using social media platforms and never misses a match for on-court insights. He values giving credit where it's due, keeping his reporting fair and accurate.

At the outset of his career, Rohit found his niche in writing previews and SEO pieces and it's this expertise that continues to define his role at Sportskeeda. He is particularly proud of one article that garnered an impressive 750k views and surpassed his "wildest dreams." Rohit is not particularly fond of (GOAT) debates and it is one of the reasons why he left the legal world behind. He prefers to view players in "tiers," where they're all esteemed to an extent. However, if pressed to name favorites, he would choose Serena and Venus Williams. The Williams sisters' journey from humble beginnings to the pinnacle of tennis has been his greatest source of inspiration.

When he isn't busy making spot-on predictions about match outcomes, Rohit likes reading, particularly fantasy, sci-fi, and comics. As an X-Men fanatic, he's also passionate about board games and enjoys watching movies in his spare time. And don't be surprised if you catch him silently wishing to the tennis gods for the removal of ad scoring from doubles.

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Edited by Sarbajaya Bhattacharya