San Diego Open 2021: Andrey Rublev vs Cameron Norrie preview, head-to-head & prediction

Match details

Fixture: (1) Andrey Rublev vs Cameron Norrie

Date: 2 October 2021

Tournament: San Diego Open 2021

Round: Semifinal

Venue: San Diego, United States

Category: ATP 250

Surface: Hardcourt

Prize money: $565,530

Match timing: Not before 2 pm local time, 9 pm GMT, 2.30 am IST

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

Andrey Rublev vs Cameron Norrie preview

Andrey Rublev and Cameron Norrie both came through straight-set wins on Friday to book a meeting in the semifinals of the 2021 San Diego Open.

Rublev, the top seed, scored a second win over Diego Schwartzman in as many weeks, although the one on Friday was the more competitive of the two matches. The Russian got off to a quick start but needed to step up his game to fend off a spirited comeback by his opponent in the second set, eventually prevailing 6-1, 7-5.

Cameron Norrie staged a big upset in thr quarterfinals.

Cameron Norrie, on his part, has registered back-to-back upset wins in his last two matches here this week.

Norrie was especially impressive in his 6-3, 6-1 win over Denis Shapovalov in the quarterfinals. The Brit was aggressive on return, and managed to break his opponent four times en route a surprisingly comfortable win.

Andrey Rublev vs Cameron Norrie head-to-head

Andrey Rublev leads Cameron Norrie in their current head-to-head with a slender 1-0 margin. The Russian dropped just three games in their last encounter, which came at the 2020 St. Petersburg Trophy.

Andrey Rublev vs Cameron Norrie prediction

Andrey Rublev will look to take control of the baseline rallies.

Andrey Rublev will enter this semifinal contest as the firm favorite. The Russian's power-packed game has worked well in San Diego so far, and he will once again look to take control of the exchanges from the get-go.

Rublev has done well to attack his opponents' serve this week, but he has been a tad wasteful on break points. He has also made a few too many double faults, and playing against a dangerous-looking opponent, he will need to clean up his act.

Cameron Norrie is unlikely to give away too many free points, and will instead look to extract errors from Rublev's racket. With no discernable weaknesses, the Brit's game definitely has the game to get under his opponent's skin.

Rublev will need to maintain a high level of aggression and accuracy to hit past Norrie. If he can do that consistently enough, the top seed might have too much firepower for his opponent to handle in this one.

Prediction: Andrey Rublev to win in two tight sets.