No. 2 Casper Ruud and No. 3 Tommy Paul are the only two seeds remaining in Dallas and they will play in the semifinals on Saturday. They are set for respective meetings with Denis Shapovalov and Jaume Munar.
Denis Shapovalov vs. (3) Tommy Paul
Tommy Paul is rolling along nicely at the Dallas Open and there is a lot to like about his chances of going all the way. The world No. 9 is the defending champion of this tournament and he is off to an outstanding start to his 2025 season. Paul made a run to the Australian Open semifinals and he finds himself in the semis this week following victories over fellow Americans Jenson Brooksby, Ethan Quinn, and Reilly Opelka.
Up next for Paul on Saturday is a fourth encounter with Denis Shapovalov, who trails the head-to-head series 2-1. Their only previous indoor hard-court contest came in the 2021 Stockholm final, with Paul triumphing 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. A pair of 2022 showdowns were split; Paul got the job done by the exact same 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 scoreline at Queen’s Club before Shapovalov prevailed 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 at the Cincinnati Masters. Much unlike the case of his opponent, the Canadian’s success in Dallas has come basically out of nowhere; a previously struggling Shapovalov has advanced with defeats of Miomir Kecmanovic, Taylor Fritz (in a third-set tiebreaker), and Tomas Machac. Look for a more consistent Paul to benefit from home-court advantage and pick up yet another win in front of the Dallas crowd.
Cheryl pick: Paul in 2
Ricky pick: Paul in 2
Jaume Munar vs. (2) Casper Ruud
Casper Ruud and Jaume Munar have already met in 2025. The two men had a surprise five-set showdown in the first round of the Australian Open. It was the tennis world’s first real peek at the “more aggressive” Munar–and it even worked for a while. He snagged the second and fourth sets from Ruud before he succumbing 6-1 in the fifth.
Ruud had a bit of a disappointing start to the year. Following his win over Munar at Melbourne Park, the fifth-ranked Norwegian went down in four tame sets to Jakub Mensik. His run to the semifinals this week is his best result of the season by far. He holds a 3-1 edge over Munar, but the Spaniard is playing the best hard-court tennis of his career right now. Although Munar is ranked 64th in the world, there is some upset risk here for the favorite. Munar is playing lights-out tennis this week and Ruud is still working his way into form.
Cheryl pick: Munar in 3
Ricky pick: Ruud in 2
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