Twelfth seed Matteo Berrettini will take on American Frances Tiafoe in the first round of the Western and Southern Open on Monday.
The season for Berrettini has been intermittent. In January, he competed in the Australian Open and advanced to the quarterfinals before falling to eventual champion Rafael Nadal. Following Indian Wells, he wasn’t at his best and required minor hand surgery. He rejoined the tour in time for the grass-court season and won back-to-back championships at the Queen’s Club and Stuttgart Open. But Wimbledon was off limits for the Italian since he tested positive for COVID-19 just before the competition started. In the opening round of the Canadian Open, Berrettini lost to Pablo Carreno Busta in straight sets.
While Frances Tiafoe has had a solid season, she hasn’t won anything to show for it. He advanced to the Atlanta semifinals, the Washington quarterfinals, and the Montreal last 16 rounds. In the recent weeks, Tiafoe has suffered a couple of devastating defeats to Nick Kyrgios and Taylor Fritz.
Matteo Berrettini v Frances Tiafoe Match Details
Tournament:Cincinnati Open
Date: August 16th
Round: Round of 64
Venue: Cincinnati, USA
Category: ATP 1000
Surface: Hard
Prize money: $970,020
Matteo Berrettini v Frances Tiafoe head to head record
The duo have faced off just once on the ATP tour, with Berrettini leading 1-0 in the head-to-head. They met at the 2018 Rome Masters, with the Italian winning 6-3, 7-6(1).
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Matteo Berrettini v Frances Tiafoe Prediction
This has the makings of a very interesting encounter. If Berrettini can get his serve going early, he will be tough to stop. However, considering Tiafoe’s form and the fact that he has more matches under his belt of late, an upset could well be on the cards.
Prediction: Berrettini to win in straight sets
Matteo Berrettini Last three performances
- Canadian Open: Round of 32- l. Carreno 3-6, 2-6
- Swiss Open: Final- l. Ruud 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-2
- Swiss Open: Semifinal- b. Thiem 6-1, 6-4
Frances Tiafoe Last three performances
- Canadian Open: Round of 32- l. Fritz 7-5, 1-6, 4-6
- Canadian Open: Round of 64- b. Bonzi 6-7(6), 7-5, 6-3
- Citi Open: Quarterfinal- l. Kyrgios 7-6(5), 6-7(12), 2-6
Broadcast and Live Stream Details
- US – Tennis Channel
- UK – Tennis TV (live streaming)
- Australia – beIN Sports
- Canada – TSN
- India – Discovery/ Tennis TV
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