Roland Garros: Matteo Berrettini vs Vasek Pospisil preview, head-to-head & prediction | French Open 2020

Match details

Fixture: Matteo Berrettini vs Vasek Pospisil

Date: 29 September 2020

Tournament: Roland Garros 2020

Round: First round (Round of 128)

Venue: Paris, France

Category: Grand Slam

Surface: Red clay

Prize money: Approx. €38,000,000

Match timing: 11 am CEST, 2.30 pm IST

Live telecast: USA - NBC Sports / Tennis Channel | India - Star Sports Select / Disney + Hotstar VIP | Europe - Eurosport | Canada - TSN

Matteo Berrettini vs Vasek Pospisil preview

World No. 8 Matteo Berrettini will open his 2020 French Open campaign against Canada's Vasek Pospisil.

Both players are coming into this Grand Slam tournament in decent form. However, it is Matteo Berrettini who has had much more match practice on clay this year.

Since the resumption of tennis, Vasek Pospisil has only taken part in the US Open, where he reached the Round of 16. He registered a couple of extremely impressive victories on his way there, against Roberto Bautista Agut and Milos Raonic.

Vasek Pospisil

However, the Canadian surprisingly opted against playing any tournaments on clay, a surface that is arguably his least favorite, in the lead-up to Roland Garros.

On the other hand, Matteo Berrettini took part in the Italian Open in Rome where he reached the quarter-finals. Like Pospisil, the 24-year-old made it to the fourth round of the US Open too.

The Canadian and Italian are quite similar in certain areas of the game. They like to serve big and follow it up with powerful groundstrokes, especially off the forehand wing. Moreover, the cold and damp conditions at Roland Garros this year will benefit big hitters, a prospect that these two players would relish.

Berrettini is the more comfortable player on this surface, and will be keen to improve his record at the French Open. The Italian is yet to make the second week at the Grand Slam in Paris.

Nevertheless, this will be a very tricky opener for Berrettini, who would need to have a good strategy in place against a dangerous opponent.

Matteo Berrettini vs Vasek Pospisil head-to-head

The head-to-head between Matteo Berrettini and Vasek Pospisil currently stands at 0-0 as the two have never played each other on tour before.

Matteo Berrettini vs Vasek Pospisil prediction

Matteo Berrettini

The lack of match practice on clay could potentially come to haunt Vasek Pospisil in this encounter. Matteo Berrettini on the other hand has played some decent tennis this month, and should be able to put the 30-year-old on the backfoot at the start.

Perhaps some variety could come in handy, especially for Berrettini. Topspin-heavy forehands and backhand slices could work well against Pospisil, who struggles with the slow pace and high bounce of the red dirt.

For Pospisil, the key would be to pressure the Italian’s backhand, and more importantly return his serve well.

Pospisil does have the ability to cause an upset, but Berrettini is no novice on clay and should be able to withstand the Canadian’s firepower.

Prediction: Matteo Berrettini to win in four sets.