It’s title day at the Stockholm Open and this is our preview for today’s final, Taylor Fritz vs. Thiago Agustin Tirante.
Taylor Fritz vs Thiago Agustin Tirante
Fritz has been the best player in Stockholm. The top seed and world No. 10 beat Cameron Norrie 7-5, 6-3 in his opener, advanced to the semifinals when Holger Rune withdrew from their quarterfinal and then beat Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-2 in 63 minutes. It’s his sixth final of the season, and he has won more indoor matches than anyone on tour this year (15), but he lost the Lyon final to Musetti last month, and his records in finals is not great. Reaching the final has also put him in a strong position to finish the year inside the top 10.
Tirante is the story of the week, a player that is usually stronger on clay. The 25-year-old Argentine, ranked No. 51, is into his first ATP Tour final, having won his third ATP semifinal and his first on hard courts. He got a walkover from fifth seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the first round, beat Jaume Munar 7-6(3), 6-3, then came through a three-set test against qualifier Aleksandr Shevchenko, 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 6-3, and beat fourth seed Alejandro Tabilo 7-5, 7-6(1) in 1 hour 48 minutes in the semifinals. He’s the first Argentine to reach an ATP indoor final since Diego Schwartzman in Antwerp in 2021.
H2H
Tirante leads the head-to-head 1-0. He won their only meeting at the Canadian Open in Montreal in August, 7-5, 6-3, in Fritz’s first match there, just days after Fritz had won the title in Washington. Fritz was reportedly struggling physically in the second set that day, and he converted none of his four break points.
Predictions and best bets
Tirante has no fear of big names, as the Montreal win shows, and he also beat Novak Djokovic in Cincinnati in August on the way to his first Masters 1000 quarterfinal. But he’s playing his first final, on an indoor court that is faster than first expected, against a far more experienced finalist, and Fritz has been in great form all week. I’ll back a confident Fritz to overcome the disappointment of narrowly missing the ATP Finals and win the title in Stockholm.
My bet: Fritz to win in straight sets
