The Antwerp and Kremlin pursuits
The top two seeds, Jannik Sinner and Diego Schwartzman face each other for the European Open title while the Olympics silver medalists, Marin Cilic and Aslan Karatsev will battle it out in the Kremlin Cup final today. Here are their tournament stats and what's at stake for each finalist :
European Open final
Jannik Sinner
The top seed is playing his 5th final of 2021 and the 6th of his career. The 20 year old is the youngest and the highest ranked finalist ever in the tournament in which he made the first ATP Tour quarter final and semi final appearances of his career back in 2019. Sinner is aiming to become the youngest player since 19 year old Djokovic in 2007 to win 5 tour level titles and also the 5th player to win at least 4 titles in 2021.
- Sinner's Tournament Stats
- Aces - 8
- Service Games won - 26 of 27 (96%) [Tournament Leader]
- Break Points saved - 6 of 7 (86%) [Tournament Leader]
- Return Games won - 11 of 27 (41%) [Tournament Leader]
- Break Points converted - 11 of 23 (48%)
- First Serve Points won - 71 of 89 (80%)
- Second Serve Points won - 45 of 66 (68%) [Tournament Leader]
- First Serve Return Points won - 43 of 120 (36%)
- Second Serve Return Points won - 42 of 63 (67%) [Tournament Leader]
Diego Schwartzman
The number 2 seed is appearing in the 12th ATP Tour final of hiss career and is seeking a 5th title. The Argentine's record in indoor finals is poor as he has lost each of his 4 such finals but his record in Antwerp is a bit satisfactory as he is the only player in the tournament's 6 year history to reach multiple finals and has won a tournament record 12 games. Just like his counterpart he is yet to drop a set in this year's edition and hopes to win the title for the first time in what is his 3rd final appearance.
- Schwartzman's Tournament Stats
- Aces - 3
- Service Games won - 25 of 28 (89%)
- Break Points saved - 5 of 8 (63%)
- Return Games won - 11 of 28 (39%)
- Break Points converted - 11 of 27 (41%)
- First Serve Points won - 88 of 116 (76%)
- Second Serve Points won - 27 of 47 (57%)
- First Serve Return Points won - 44 of 115 (38%) [Tournament Leader]
- Second Serve Return Points won - 49 of 87 (56%)
Kremlin Cup Final
Marin Cilic
The 33 year old Croatian is the oldest player to appear in the tournament's final in its 31 year history. This is his 3rd final in Kremlin and he is bidding to become the first non-Russian and the third player overall after Yevgeny Kafelnikov (5) and Nikolay Davydenko (3) to win the title 3 times. With a win today Cilic will also become the 6th active player with 20+ career titles.
- Cilic's Tournament Stats
- Aces - 54 [Tournament Leader]
- Service Games won - 39 of 42 (93%) [Tournament Leader]
- Break Points saved - 14 of 17 (82%) [Tournament Leader]
- Return Games won - 16 of 39 (41%) [Tournament Leader]
- Break Points converted - 16 of 31 (52%)
- First Serve Points won - 131 of 158 (83%) [Tournament Leader]
- Second Serve Points won - 53 of 106 (50%)
- First Serve Return Points won - 58 of 167 (35%)
- Second Serve Return Points won - 55 of 89 (62%)
Aslan Karatsev
The 28 year old Russian will be playing his 3rd career ATP Tour final today. Should he win, he'll become the 10th different Russian to win the Moscow title in the tournament's history in which 16 out of the total 31 titles have been won by the natives. Karatsev can also become the 3rd successive Russian champion in Kremlin after Karen Khachanov in 2018 and Andrey Rublev in 2019.
- Karatsev's Tournament Stats
- Aces - 7
- Service Games won - 25 of 28 (89%)
- Break Points saved - 3 of 6 (50%)
- Return Games won - 11 of 29 (38%)
- Break Points converted - 11 of 20 (55%)
- First Serve Points won - 77 of 108 (71%)
- Second Serve Points won - 40 of 61 (66%) [Tournament Leader]
- First Serve Return Points won - 33 of 113 (29%)
- Second Serve Return Points won - 48 of 74 (65%) [Tournament Leader]
Note : Cilic has played 4 games and Karatsev has played 3 games.