World No. 66 Jaume Munar takes on Brazilian No. 1 Thiago Monteiro in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Chile Open on Friday.
The Spanish star had only 1 win and 5 losses this season, coming into the Chile Open. Munar handed Alejandro Tabilo a bagel in the first set in the round of 32. The next two sets turned out to be closely contested. Tabilo managed to win the second set in the tiebreak but Munar held his nerves to win the third set. The match ended 6-0, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-5) in favor of Munar who converted 6 out of 8 break points.
In the round of 16, Munar played solid tennis to oust top seed Lorenzo Musetti. The match ended 6-4, 6-4. The Italian youngster failed to convert any of the 6 break points. Munar, on the other hand, had a win percentage of 88 on the first serve. He also converted 2 out of 3 break points.
The 28-year-old has also reached his first quarterfinal of the season. He managed to beat 5th seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas in a hard-fought encounter in the round of 32. The riveting encounter ended 7-5, 4-6, 7-5. Monteiro converted 5 out of 7 break points in the clash.
In the second round, Monteiro came back from a set down to defeat Marco Cecchinato 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. The Brazilian player had a win percentage of 86 in the match.
The two players have faced each other on 4 occasions. Jaume Munar leads the head-to-head scoreline 3-1. Their most recent encounter was won comfortably in straight sets 6-2, 6-4, 7-5 by Munar in the 2022 Wimbledon Championships.
Prediction: Jaume Munar to win in three sets.
More Tennis news
Follow our dedicated Tennis page for instant Tennis news and updates