ATP Lyon Open 2021 Finals: Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Cameron Norrie Preview; Head-to-Head and Prediction

World number five Greek player Stefanos Tsitsipas, who is having a phenomenal run on the clay-court season this year, has reached yet another finals of a tournament. The Greek defeated the young Italian Lorenzo Musetti in the semi-finals of the Lyon Open.

Tsitsipas will face the Brit Cameron Norrie in the finals. Norrie also had a decent clay-court run so far, where he reached the finals at the Estoril Open and made the quarters at Barcelona.

The Greek player will be the clear favorite heading into the finals.

Lyon Open 2021 Finals: Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Cameron Norrie Preview

Tsitsipas had a great start to the tour this year as he reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open, where he lost to Daniil Medvedev. After the first grand slam of the year, the young Greek played the Miami Masters, Mexican Open, Rotterdam Open, etc.

Even though Tsitsipas didn’t win any of these events he managed to reach at least the quarter-finals of all the tournaments mentioned above. Thus, the next-gen player was able to maintain consistency heading into the European clay-court swing.

At the Monte-Carlo Masters, Tsitsipas defeated the likes of Cristian Garin, Davidovich Fokina, Dan Evans, and Andrey Rublev to clinch his first Masters 1000 title. It was his biggest victory since winning the ATP World Tour Finals in 2019.

The Greek continued his amazing run by reaching the Barcelona Open finals; he was defeated by Rafael Nadal in a tight, three-setter. But, Tsitsipas failed to reach the semis in both Madrid and Rome.

To ensure that he beams with confidence ahead of Roland Garros, the Greek decided to participate at the Lyon Open.

On the other hand, Cameron Norrie’s consistency on the red-dirt this year is laudable. He made the finals at the Estoril Open, reached the quarters in Barcelona, and defeated the likes of Corentin Moutet, Dominic Thiem, Karen Khachanov, to reach the Lyon Open finals.

Head-to-Head

The championship match at Lyon marks the first head-to-head clash between Tsitsipas and Norrie.

Lyon Open 2021 Finals: Tsitsipas vs Norrie Prediction

Both Tsitsipas and Norrie had one of their best clay-court seasons this year. The young Greek has shown considerable improvement on his return position from the baseline.

While Tsitsipas remains an aggressive player on-court, he proved that he can play a decent clutch game as well.

As far as Cameron Norrie is concerned, he can created trouble to the Greek with his lefty serve. The Brit sustained longer rallies against players like Rafael Nadal, Marin Cilic, and Cristian Garin this year.

Injouable Cameron Norrie ! Le britannique a affiché un niveau de jeu très élevé pour écarter facilement Khachanov et rejoindre @steftsitsipas en finale #OpenParc pic.twitter.com/JIRtJVQpdT

— Open Parc ARA (@OpenParcARA) May 22, 2021

If Norrie can counter-punch the forehand of Tsitsipas, it will create enough trouble for the Greek and stops him from playing freely. Also, the Brit might implement the occasional serve-and-volley to confuse Tsitsipas.

However, the Greek star also likes to mix his game doesn’t get stuck to a single game-plan. Even though a lot of rallies are expected in this contest, each player might implement their volleying skills as well.

With two players who like to use an all-round approach to their matches, the Lyon Open finals promises to be an intriguing contest.

Final Prediction: Stefanos Tsitsipas to win in two sets.

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