Rio Open 2023 Final: Cameron Norrie vs Carlos Alcaraz preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick

Match Details

Fixture: (2) Cameron Norrie vs (1) Carlos Alcaraz

Date: February 26, 2023

Tournament: Rio Open 2023

Round: Final

Venue: Jockey Club Brasileiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Category: ATP 500

Surface: Outdoor clay court

Prize money: $2,013,940

Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video

Cameron Norrie vs Carlos Alcaraz preview

It will be a battle of the top two seeds in the final of the Rio Open, as second seed Cameron Norrie will take on top seed Carlos Alcaraz. Both players needed to go the distance to book a rematch of last week's Argentina Open title match.

The 13th-ranked Norrie may not have won a title yet this season, but he's one of the most in-form players on tour. The left-hander beat Bernabe Zapata Miralles in a third-set tiebreak to improve to 17-3 on the year and reach back-to-back finals.

Earlier in the tournament, Norrie beat Francisco Cerundolo, Thiago Monteiro and Hugo Dellien to reach the last four, where he beat Zapata Miralles to reach back-to-back finals in as many weeks.

Meanwhile, top seed Alcaraz dropped the opening set against qualifier Nicolas Jarry in a tiebreak. After narrowly edging out the second 7-5, the teenager blanked his Chilean opponent in the third to extend his winning start to 2023 to 8-0.

Earlier, Alcaraz beat Mateus Alves, Fabio Fognini and Dusan Lajovic to make the semifinals.

Cameron Norrie vs Carlos Alcaraz head-to-head

Carlos Alcaraz holds a commanding 4-1 head-to-head lead over Norrie, including a straight-set win in last week's Argentina Open final in Buenos Aires. Norrie's only win over Alcaraz came in the Cincinnati quarterfinals last year.

Cameron Norrie vs Carlos Alcaraz odds

Player	Moneyline	Handicap Bets	Total Games (over and under)
Cameron Norrie	+360	+1.5 (+100)	Under 20.5 (+105)
Carlos Alcaraz	-500	-1.5 (-145)	Over 20.5 (-150)

All odds are sourced from BETMGM.

Cameron Norrie vs Carlos Alcaraz prediction

Alcaraz is a win away from defending his Rio Open title.

It's an apt title match, as the two best players this week will meet with the opportunity to take the title.

While Norrie has improved by leaps and bounds on clay, the red dirt is not his strongest suit. Meanwhile, former World No. 1 Alcaraz has already shown his proficiency on the surface, winning the Rio, Barcelona and Madrid titles last year.

He has continued in much the same vein this year, reaching back-to-back finals. The Spaniard hasn't been at his imperious best this week but should have enough in the tank to win his second title of the year.

Together with his H2H advantage over Norrie, Alcaraz should beat the British left-hander for the second time in as many weeks to defend his Rio Open title and extend his perfect start to 2023.

Pick: Alcaraz in three sets.

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Bhargav is a veteran sports journalist and editor at Sportskeeda, with a rich professional experience of 17 years, working for the likes of Siemens and Bombay Dyeing. An avid football and tennis follower for over three decades, Bhargav uses his vast knowledge and experience, attention to detail, an unbiased yet interesting writing style, and thorough research to craft insightful articles, which have raked in over 20 million reads so far.

Bhargav supports Italy at national level, a team steeped in tradition and history according to him. He still harbors the heartbreak from the Azzurri’s 1994 FIFA World Cup final defeat against Brazil, and protagonist-turned-antagonist from the game, ‘Divine Ponytail’ Roberto Baggio is his all-time favorite player. His favorite manager is Marcelo Lippi, who ended Italy’s 24-year wait for the World Cup trophy, winning it in 2006.

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Edited by Nihal