By Tony Fairbairn
- Iga Swiatek [1] v Petra Martic [27]
- Carlos Alcaraz [1] v Karen Khachanov [10]
- Jessica Pegula [3] v Veronika Kudermetova [12]
- Borna Coric [17] v Daniel Altmaier [LL]
MADRID, SPAIN – Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz look to continue their clay court dominance as the quarter-finals action continues in Madrid.
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Iga Swiatek [1] v Petra Martic [27] H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Iga Swiatek [1] v Petra Martic [27] | H2H: Swiatek leads 1-0 |
| Madrid Open 2023 | Madrid, Spain |
| Clay (O) | Prize Money: €161,525 |
| Third on Manolo Santana Stadium (Not before 19:00 BST) | Amazon Prime Video <– Sign up for trial |
Despite a mini-blip against Ekaterina Alexandrova, Iga Swiatek has continued her clay court dominance in Madrid. The Pole has continued the momentum from winning Stuttgart into the Spanish capital as she aims to win the one big clay court title that is missing from her collection. As tougher tests approach against more powerful players, Swiatek will now look to continue to remain at a consistently high level with the altitude likely to favour some of the more aggressive players on the tour.
First up for Swiatek is Croatian powerhouse Petra Martic who continues to show why clay is her best surface after coming through a tough last 16 clash against former Roland Garros champion Barbora Krejcikova. Martic has all the tools to succeed on clay especially in faster conditions in Madrid as her movement as well as accurate depth makes her a force to be reckoned with when it comes to the latter stages of tournaments. Now Martic looks to continue her high level and cause an upset to another big seed on her favourite surface.
Swiatek will look to counter-attack Martic’s power by producing accurate returning and using her variety to catch the Croatian off guard. Meanwhile Martic will look to dominate the tempo of the rallies through her serve and her backhand as she looks to create angles to move the Pole out of position. This will be a tough match for Swiatek given the altitude however night time conditions should make the court slower which will favour the world number one.
Prediction: Swiatek in three sets.
Carlos Alcaraz [1] v Karen Khachanov [10] H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Carlos Alcaraz [1] v Karen Khachanov [10] | H2H: Alcaraz leads 2-0 |
| Madrid Open 2023 | Madrid, Spain |
| Clay (O) | Prize Money: €161,525 |
| Second on Manolo Santana Stadium (Not before 15:00 BST) | Amazon Prime Video <– Sign up for trial |
After winning Barcelona, Carlos Alcaraz has continued his clay court domination over the ATP tour as he dismantled Alexander Zverev with the loss of three games. The world number one now senses an opportunity to reclaim his world number one spot back and win his second Grand Slam title at Roland Garros with the absence of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Alcaraz’s mix of movement and versatility allows him to transition from defence into attack with ease as he looks to successfully defend his Madrid title.
Next up for Alcaraz is the in-form Karen Khachanov who has had an incredible last year and continued to show red-hot form by defeating Andrey Rublev to reach the last eight. Despite Khachanov’s power, there is an argument to make that clay is actually his best surface as he has improved his point construction in the last year which has allowed him to reach the latter stages of tournaments. Now Khachanov has his eyes set on a second Masters 1000 title as he looks to produce another big win on clay.
Alcaraz will look to target Khachanov’s second serve as he looks to dictate the points from the baseline and use his slice to neutralise the tenth seed’s power. Khachanov will look to use consistent depth as well as the angles to open up space on the court and create efficient winners. This match will see Khachanov make a good start to the match but ultimately Alcaraz will have too much quality as he will reach the semi-finals for a second year in a row.
Prediction: Alcaraz in straight sets.
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Jessica Pegula [3] v Veronika Kudermetova [12] H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Jessica Pegula [3] v Veronika Kudermetova [12] | H2H: First Meeting |
| Madrid Open 2023 | Madrid, Spain |
| Clay (O) | Prize Money: €161,525 |
| First on Manolo Santana Stadium (Not before 12:00 BST) | Amazon Prime Video <– Sign up for trial |
Jessica Pegula continues her consistency across all surfaces as she is into the quarter-finals in Madrid. The American is doing a good job of defending her final points from last year so far as she is continuing to play aggressive tennis as well as becoming hard to beat. However Pegula knows that consistent results only takes her so far as the American will now look to convert performances into titles. Can the American start producing titles consistently by winning the trophy in Madrid.
Looking to stop Pegula from achieving that goal is 12th seed Veronika Kudermetova who has hard to work hard to get to the last eight with all her wins coming in three sets so far in Spain. However one of those wins was against Daria Kasatkina which no mean feat on clay with Kudermetova once again showing her resilience and power on clay. Now Kudermetova will look to win the biggest title of her career in the Spanish capital and cause another surprise.
Pegula will look to continue her consistency from the baseline and be aggressive on the forehand side to counter-attack Kudermetova’s backhand power. The 12th seed will look to get the first strike in and make the American move all around the court and force some erratic errors from Pegula. This will be a high quality match with both players producing consistently good defensive consistency however Pegula’s constant depth and pace in pressure moments should get her over the line.
Prediction: Pegula in three sets.
Borna Coric [17] v Daniel Altmaier [LL] H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Borna Coric [17] v Daniel Altmaier [LL] | H2H: First Meeting |
| Madrid Open 2023 | Madrid, Spain |
| Clay (O) | Prize Money: €161,525 |
| Fourth on Manolo Santana Stadium (Not before 20:30 BST) | Amazon Prime Video <– Sign up for trial |
It’s not easy to come back to the tour after a long injury lay-off but Borna Coric has had no problems in continuing to show his potential. It was in Cincinnati last year where the Croatian showed his qualities again by winning the title. Since then Coric has had some mini-setbacks but ultimately has rediscovered his form this week especially with a third set tiebreak win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Now Coric looks to take advantage of a favourable draw in Madrid and make a deep run to the final.
Next for Coric is German lucky loser Daniel Altmaier who hasn’t had the best form over the last year but has taken advantage of a great opportunity in Madrid. The German has a fast one-handed backhand and tricky serve which can cause any player problems on his day. Now Altmaier will look to make the most of a first Masters 1000 quarter-final and cause a big upset in the Spanish capital.
Coric will look to dominate the rallies with his forehand as he will look to use the lines and angles to test Altmaier’s forehand. Meanwhile the German will need to serve well and use the backhand to keep the rallies short. The slower night time conditions will give Coric more of an advantage than he would have had before as the Croatian should reach the semi-finals here.
Prediction: Coric in straight sets.
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