Main-draw competition at the Madrid Masters gets underway on Wednesday, when Marin Cilic and Tomas Machac take the court. They are going up against Zizou Bergs and Francisco Comesana, respectively.
Zizou Bergs vs. Marin Cilic
Bergs and Cilic will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers when they collide in round one of the Mutua Madrid Open on Wednesday. Their only previous meeting came during an indoor hard-court Davis Cup tie two years ago, when Bergs put a point on the board for Belgium with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory.
Cilic is still going strong at 37 years old, checking in at No. 51 in the world. The Croat is 9-8 this season and 1-2 so far on clay, coming off an alarming 6-2, 6-3 loss to an ice-cold Daniel Altmaier in the Munich first round. Bergs is in far better form. The world No. 44 has advanced at least one round in four consecutive tournaments, including a third-round effort in Monte-Carlo (beat Andrey Rublev before losing to Alexander Zverev). The high altitude of Madrid may help Cilic a bit, but Bergs should be able to play his way into more than enough baseline rallies on clay against an opponent who wants to end points quickly.
Pick: Bergs in 2
Tomas Machac vs. Francisco Comesana
Although Machac really should be seeded at every Masters 1000 tournament he enters, too many physical problems have reduced him to No. 41 in the rankings and therefore have him on the first-round schedule in Madrid. The 25-year-old Czech is a modest 11-8 this season, but his record includes a title in Adelaide and multiple match victories in both Monte-Carlo and Barcelona.
Up first for Machac on Wednesday afternoon is a second showdown against Comesana, who lost their only previous encounter 6-4, 6-3 at a 2023 clay-court Challenger in Prostejov. The 105th-ranked Argentine is a dreadful 3-9 on the main tour in 2026 and has won just a single ATP-level match since the Australian Open. Comesana even lost to world No. 241 Federico Ferreira Silva in round one of last week’s Oeiras Challenger. Anything close to Machac’s current level should be easily good enough to win this match in straight sets.
Pick: Machac in 2
WWW?
Bergs ganha facil 🙏
Same picks as you, possibly needing an extra set though.
Bergs in 2 6-4, 6-4
Machac in 2, 6-4, 6-3
It can hit 3 if Tomas sells
Wow, vintage Cilic!