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Fixture: (4) Stefanos Tsitsipas vs (LL) Jan-Lennard Struff.
Date: May 4, 2023.
Tournament: Madrid Masters 2023.
Round: Quarterfinal.
Venue: Caja Magica, Madrid, Spain.
Category: ATP Masters 1000.
Surface: Outdoor clay.
Prize money: €7,705,780.
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video.
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Jan-Lennard Struff preview
World No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas will take on lucky loser Jan-Lennard Struff in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Madrid Open on Thursday.
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Following three-set victories over Dominic Thiem and Sebastian Baez, Tsitsipas reached the fourth round, where he faced Bernabe Zapata Miralles. It was a game with plenty of back-and-forth action in the first set as both players struggled to hold serve.
The set saw five consecutive breaks of serve, with Tsitsipas coming out on top to lead 4-3. The 24-year-old then held serve to make it 5-3 and broke his opponent's serve once again to clinch the set.
The second set was more straightforward. Tsitsipas dropped just one game in it to win the match 6-3, 6-1 and make it to the last eight in Madrid for the second year in a row.
Struff, meanwhile, lost to Aslan Karatsev in the qualifying rounds, but got a second lease of life as a lucky loser. He defeated Lorenzo Sonego, Ben Shelton and Dusan Lajovic to reach the fourth round.
Pedro Cachin stood between him and a spot in the quarterfinals.
The duo remained unshakeable on serve during the first set, leading to a tie-break, which was won by Struff. The German trailed 4-1 in the second set, but managed to level the score and take the contest into yet another tie-break.
Cachin played quite well in the tie-break to take the second set. However, he was unable to sustain the momentum. Struff raised his level in the third set and bagged the last four games of the match to win 7-6 (7), 6-7 (7), 6-3.
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Jan-Lennard Struff head-to-head
Tsitsipas leads Struff 3-2 in the head-to-head. He won their previous encounter at the 2020 Vienna Open in three sets.
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Jan-Lennard Struff odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Jan-Lennard Struff prediction
Struff held his nerve to score yet another three-set win. He has made the most of his second shot in Madrid so far. Tsitsipas was tested a bit by Zapata Miralles, but managed to get the job done in straight sets.
Struff and Tsitsipas have a close rivalry, with all but one of their matches going to a deciding set. The German is a solid baseliner, with his backhand being more steady compared to the Greek.
However, Tsitsipas's backhand held up quite well in the previous round and he'll be relying on it to work as effectively once again. Struff has been competing quite well on clay this season and will aim to continue his fairytale run in the Spanish capital.
Based on their history, this could be another encounter that goes down to the wire. However, given Tsitsipas' big-match experience, he's more likely to emerge victorious in this contest.
Pick: Stefanos Tsitsipas to win in three sets.
