American Sebastian Korda will take on Italian qualifier Lorenzo Musetti at the Madrid Masters on Wednesday. The jam-packed second-round schedule will also feature Diego Schwartzman and Grigor Dimitrov.
Sebastian Korda vs. (Q) Lorenzo Musetti
Sebastian Korda is still trying to find his mojo this season. The American has made an unfortunate habit of failing to serve out a match when he’s up a break. Just last week in Estoril,he served for a spot in the final against Frances Tiafoe, and proceeded to lose the match. A similar scenario happened against Rafael Nadal in Indian Wells in March. The good news for the American is that–except for blinking just as he was supposed to cross the finish line–he has been in good form on European clay.
Lorenzo Musetti showed some promised during the 2021 season. The Italian made his way to the round of 16 at Roland Garros and pushed Novak Djokovic to five sets before retiring down 4-0 in the decider. He has been struggling with results ever since and his ranking has fallen to No. 63, reducing him to qualies fairly frequently.
With the way Korda has been playing, this one should go the American’s way. Korda is quite comfortable on the dirt and he moves well for a man his 6’5” size.
Cheryl pick: Korda in 2
Ricky pick: Korda in 3
(13) Diego Schwartzman vs. Grigor Dimitrov
Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman has been tearing up the clay in 2022. The world No. 15 hasn’t won any titles in 2022, but he has a pair of finals and 15 total wins on clay–including his first-round victory this week over Benoit Paire. Of course, it also means that fatigue could start to be a factor. As fit as Schwartzman is, the grind of the terre battue eventually takes a toll.
Grigor Dimitrov just missed a seed in Madrid. The Bulgarian is 20th in the world, in part thanks to his run to the semifinals in Monte-Carlo a couple of weeks ago. He had a particularly impressive straight-set win over Casper Ruud. He was unfortunate to run into Stefanos Tsitsipas in the third round in Barcelona, where he lost in straight sets.
Dimitrov holds a scant 2-1 head-to-head record over Schwartzman. However, given Schwartzman’s dependability on clay, it’s hard to pick against him…then again the Madrid Masters doesn’t play like a traditional clay court. Look for Dimitrov to push it to three but for the Argentine to ultimately prevail.
Cheryl pick: Schwartzman in 3
Ricky pick: Schwartzman in 3
WWW?
Y is Korda so error prone? Gash!!!!!! He makes it hard to support him!! Sigh!
great question. He CAN be so solid at times. Then he just goes off the rails.
oops
Both matches could have gone either way ..