Casper Ruud and Denis Shapovalov will be squaring off for the third time in their careers when they meet in the Dallas Open final on Sunday afternoon. Ruud has won both of their previous encounters; 7-6(6), 6-4 in the 2021 Geneva title match and 7-6(7), 7-5 one year later in Rome.

Of course, Shapovalov has no reason to be worried about those results. Both were clay, plus they were more than two years ago.

The 25-year-old should have a great chance to turn the tide in this one. He struggled with injuries as well as his own game for much of 2023 and 2024, but things appear to be turning around. The 54th-ranked Canadian wrapped up last season with a title in Belgrade–also on indoor hard courts–and he has been playing incredible tennis throughout the week in Dallas. Shapovalov booked his spot in the final by beating Miomir Kecmanovic, Taylor Fritz (in a third-set tiebreaker), Tomas Machac, and Tommy Paul. The quality of those victories cannot be overstated.

It has been a mixed bag for Ruud in Dallas. The second-seeded Norwegian eased past Michael Mmoh and Yoshihito Nishioka, but those results were sandwiched in between very tight three-setters against James Duckworth and Jaume Munar. In fact, Munar even served for the match on Saturday before Ruud survived their semifinal thriller in a third-set tiebreaker.

Sunday’s match will be on Shapovalov’s racket. That isn’t always good news for the left-hander because he can sometimes beat himself by being an unforced-error machine, but that has not been the case for a while now dating back to Belgrade in the fall. Shapovalov is on fire this week and there is no reason why he can’t cap off the run in style.

Pick: Shapovalov in 3