Seeded players are starting to face each other on Wednesday at the Olympics, and a pair of all-seeded showdowns are on tap. Taylor Fritz battles Lorenzo Musetti, while Stefanos Tsitsipas goes up against Sebastian Baez.
(11) Lorenzo Musetti vs. (7) Taylor Fritz
It will be a contest between two of the hottest players on tour when Fritz and Musetti square off in the Paris Olympics third round on Wednesday. Musetti made a surprising run to the Wimbledon semifinals and is coming off a runner-up performance in Umag. Fritz advanced to the quarters at the All-England Club after capturing a third Eastbourne title.
They just met at Wimbledon, where Musetti won their quarterfinal match in five sets. The head-to-head series is now all tied up at 2-2, with the 16th-ranked Italian leading 1-0 on clay following a 6-4, 6-4 victory this spring at the Monte-Carlo Masters. Even though both players have absolutely rolled so far at the Olympics, Musetti has to be running on fumes. Even on clay, this a nice opportunity for a red-hot Fritz to avenge his recent Wimbledon loss.
Pick: Fritz in 3
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(12) Sebastian Baez vs. (8) Stefanos Tsitsipas
Tsitsipas and Baez will be going head-to-head for third time in their careers on Wednesday. Both of their previous encounters have gone Tsitsipas’ way; 7-6(1), 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 at the 2022 Australian Open and 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 at the 2023 Madrid Masters. The 11th-ranked Greek predictably struggled on clay this summer, but he is back on his preferred clay-court stomping grounds and looking good with wins this week over Zizou Bergs and Dan Evans.
Baez booked his place in the last 16 by beating Thiago Monteiro and Benjamin Hassan–the latter in a third-set tiebreaker. That is hardly an encouraging result for Baez, who has been a force at smaller clay-court events throughout his career but has never really done anything on a big stage. The 18th-ranked Argentine will likely be outclassed by Tsitsipas with a spot in the quarterfinals of the Olympics at stake.
Pick: Tsitsipas in 2
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