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The fourth day of main draw action at the 2023 Madrid Open on Friday will feature 16 second-round matches. Sixteen seeds, three qualifiers and a wildcard will be in action at the ATP Masters 1000 event.
On Thursday, the likes of Dominic Thiem, Jan-Lennard Struff and Marcos Giron emerged victorious, respectively beating Kyle Edmund, Lorenzo Sonego and Nuno Borges.
Without further ado, here's a look at how the following four second-round matches could pan out in Madrid on Friday:
#1 Grigor Dimitrov vs Gregoire Barrere
Twenty-sixth seed Grigor Dimitrov opens his Madrid Open campaign against Frenchman Gregoire Barrere.
World No. 32 Dimitrov is 10-7 on the season, coming off a third-round run at Barcelona and reaching the Monte-Carlo second round. Meanwhile, World No. 56 Barrere improved to 9-8 on the season after beating wildcard Emilio Nava in Madrid.
The two players have split their two previous meetings. Dimitrov won their last clash in the 2020 Roland Garros first round and should prevail again.
Prediction: Dimitrov in three sets
#2 Lorenzo Musetti vs Yannick Hanfmann
Fifteenth seed Lorenzo Musetti takes on qualifier Yannick Hanfmann for a place in the Madrid Open third round.
World No. 18 Musetti is 11-10 on the season and is coming off a semifinal run in Barcelona last week. Meanwhile, the 108th-ranked Hanfmann improved to 7-5 in 2023 by seeing off Juan Pablo Varillas.
Musetti won the pair's lone meeting in the 2020 Sardinia quarterfinals and should repeat the trick.
Prediction: Musetti in straight sets
#3 Karen Khachanov (Madrid Open tenth seed) vs Thiago Monteiro
Tenth seed Karen Khachanov gets his Madrid Open campaign up and running against Brazilian Thiago Monteiro.
The 12th-ranked Khachanov is 16-8 in 2023, coming off Round-of-16 appearances at Barcelona and Monte-Carlo. Meanwhile, World No. 97 Monteiro is 6-11 on the season after getting the better of qualifier Borna Gojo.
Khachanov is 3-0 against the left-hander, including winning their lone claycourt meeting in the 2022 Belgrade quarterfinals, and should win this one.
Prediction: Khachanov in straight sets
#4 Sebastian Korda vs Hugo Grenier
Twenty-second seed Sebastian Korda takes on Frenchman Hugo Grenier in the second round of the Madrid Open.
World No. 28 Korda is 8-2 on the season but hasn't played since making the Australian Open quarterfinals at the start of the year. Meanwhile, the 128th-ranked Grenier (1-1) opened his account for the season by beating Diego Schwartzman in his opener.
This is the pair's first meeting, but considering that Korda is coming from a long injury layoff, Grenier should emerge victorious.
Prediction: Grenier in straight sets
