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Match details
Fixture: (8) Matteo Berrettini vs (16) Cristian Garin
Date: 7 May 2021
Tournament: Mutua Madrid Open 2021
Round: Quarterfinals
Venue: Madrid, Spain
Category: ATP Masters 1000
Surface: Red clay
Prize money: €2,614,460
Match timing: Approx. 9 pm local time, 12.30 am IST
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video
Matteo Berrettini vs Cristian Garin preview
World No. 10 Matteo Berrettini will face Chile's Cristian Garin in the quarterfinals of the Mutua Madrid Open on Friday.
Berrettini, the eighth seed, picked up his sixth straight win on European clay by seeing off Argentina's Federico Delbonis on Thursday. The Italian fired seven aces and won over 83% of his first-serve points in a closely contested 7-6 (4), 6-4 victory.
Berrettini remained stuck to his strengths throughout, and was clinical when the opportunities came knocking. Delbonis squandered a 4-1 lead in the opening set tiebreak and then cracked under scoreboard pressure in the 10th game of the second set.
Cristian Garin, meanwhile, secured what he called 'the best win of his career' by knocking out second seed Daniil Medvedev. Under the baking Madrid sun, Garin halted Medvedev's pursuit of the No. 1 ranking with 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-1 win in precisely two and a half hours.
Matteo Berrettini vs Cristian Garin head-to-head
Matteo Berrettini and Cristian Garin are currently tied at 1-1 in their head-to-head. Garin won the pair's first meeting, the final of the Bavaria Open in 2019. But the Italian restored parity that same year in Shanghai, winning a second-round match in straight sets.
Matteo Berrettini vs Cristian Garin prediction
Matteo Berrettini withdrew from the Australian Open due to an abdominal injury and subsequently missed two months of action. But he returned with aplomb, winning the Serbia Open in Belgrade while dropping just one set all week.
The question on everyone's mind now is whether the Italian can keep up his form long enough to challenge for the title in Madrid.
Cristian Garin should, by all accounts, be Berrettini's toughest opponent yet. The Chilean is an established claycourt specialist, and has looked very comfortable this week in the Spanish capital.
Garin garnered the most impressive win of his short career, by beating Medvedev on Thursday. The World No. 25 showed a marked improvement on his serve, giving away just 25% of the points on his first delivery and 32% on his second. Incidentally, Medvedev couldn't break Garin's serve even once in the entire match.
Berrettini's form is showing no signs of abating, and he seems to be getting better with every round. And Garin, buoyed by a career-best win, is not lacking in confidence either. So the match on Friday will likely come down to the finer details.
The Italian possesses a better and more efficient serve, and a reliable forehand that can breach even the most astute of defenses. The conditions should also help his cause, as the ball skids through the court at Madrid's altitude and jumps higher than on most other claycourts.
Many of Garin's returns are likely to be in Berrettini's strike zone, and that might just give him an unassailable advantage.
Prediction: Matteo Berrettini to win in three sets.
