Taylor Fritz and Matteo Berrettini will be going head-to-head for the fifth time in their careers when they battle for a semifinal spot at the Miami Open on Thursday.
To say that it has been all Fritz in this matchup would be an understatement. The American has won all four of their previous encounters and he has taken nine consecutive sets from Berrettini since losing the first one they ever played against each other in the 2019 Davis Cup Finals. They most recently squared off in round two of last summer’s U.S. Open, where Fritz cruised 6-3, 7-6(1), 6-1.
If there is any good news for Berrettini, it’s that he is healthy and playing pretty well right now. The 28-year-old Italian is back up to No. 30 in the world and he is 27th in the live rankings, so he is comfortably in position to be seeded at the French Open and Wimbledon. Berrettini was a modest 6-6 for his 2025 campaign heading into Miami but has picked up the pace to defeat Hugo Gaston, Zizou Bergs, and Alex de Minaur.
Fritz, of course, represents a considerable step up in competition–even over De Minaur, who had no days off before facing Berrettini on the heels of a three-set night-session struggle against Joao Fonseca. The world No. 4 was awesome last year and he is 13-5 this season following Miami victories over Lorenzo Sonego, Denis Shapovalov, and Adam Walton.
All three of those results were straight-setters and more of the same should be in store against an opponent whom Fritz has absolutely owned in the past.
Pick: Fritz in 2
WWW?
Fritzy looked good v Sonego and Shapo, but seemed to lose his focus in the second set v Walton. Losing focus has been an issue for Fritz, in my opinion, but I wouldn’t expect that moving forward. Fritz should be able to smell the final and, more importantly, surpass his girlfriend in earnings for this tournament. Fritz in two.
Yep, and who owns Fritz? Djokovic, Sinner…
Lucky Fed isn’t around, reckon the H2H would be 30-0.