Munich 2021: Casper Ruud vs John Millman preview, head-to-head & prediction | BMW Open

Match details

Fixture: (2) Casper Ruud vs (8) John Millman

Date: 30 April 2021

Tournament: BMW Open 2021

Round: Quarterfinal

Venue: Munich, Germany

Category: ATP 250

Surface: Red clay

Prize money: €419,470

Match timing: Approx. 3 pm local time, 6.30 pm IST

Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video

Casper Ruud vs John Millman preview

Second seed Casper Ruud is looking to capitalize on his rich vein of claycourt form and mount a title challenge in Munich this week.

After injury derailed most of his hardcourt season, Ruud has looked good in his matches on dirt so far. The Norwegian defeated Diego Schwartzman, Pablo Carreno Busta and Fabio Fognini at the Monte Carlo Masters earlier this month, before losing in the semifinal to Andrey Rublev.

Ruud was sharp in his first round match at Munich too, beating Pablo Cuevas in a little over an hour. The next hurdle in the 22-year-old's path to a first ATP title this year is eighth seed John Millman.

John Millman

Millman ended his 2020 season on a high, winning his first career title in Nur-Sultan. However, his start to 2021 has been considerably less successful.

The Australian won just one out of his first seven matches of the year, and has failed to make it past the quarterfinal stage at any event so far. But the World No. 40 has looked a little better since the start of the clay season, having won five matches on the surface already.

Millman started his week in Munich with an edgy three-set win over Alexei Popyrin. He then defeated Guido Pella via retirement to set up the quarterfinal against Ruud.

Casper Ruud vs John Millman head-to-head

The quarterfinal match in Munich is the first professional meeting between Casper Ruud and John Millman, so their head-to-head currently stands at 0-0.

Casper Ruud vs John Millman prediction

Casper Ruud comes into the quarterfinal as the heavy favorite, and with good reason. The Norwegian is an out-and-out claycourt specialist, and has already shown his quality on the surface this year.

Ruud's aggressive baseline game, big forehand and solid first serve are all potent weapons on dirt. And his recent results suggest that his focus and composure have improved too.

Casper Ruud

John Millman, on his part, has a well-rounded game that has its threats. The Australian has a decent serve, and his counterpunching abilities make him difficult to outlast in long exchanges.

However, given Ruud's recent form and confidence levels, it is hard to see Millman get much out of this match.

Prediction: Casper Ruud to win in straight sets.