Borna Coric
Croatia’s Borna Coric will face an in-form Daniel Altmaier in the Quarter-finals of the Madrid Open
Daniel Altmaier is having a dream run at the Madrid Open. After overcoming two rounds of qualifiers, the German ace defeated compatriot Oscar Otte in the first round of the main draw. Interestingly, he faced another fellow German Yannick Hanfmann in the second round and once again registered a comprehensive 7-6, 6-3 win. He then registered an emphatic 6-3, 6-0 win against Spanish veteran Jaume Munar to progress to the quarter-finals. Altmaier has nothing to lose at this stage – he would look to play freely and continue his dream run in the tournament.
Borna Coric has been in very poor form of late and suffered first-round exits in all of his previous four tournaments – Srpska Open, Monte-Carlo Masters, the Miami Open and the Indian Wells Masters. His best performance so far this year came at the Dubai Tennis Championships, where he reached the Quarter-finals but eventually lost to No.3 seed Daniil Medvedev. Coric is yet to win any silverware this season and he is desperate to turn things around in Madrid.
The 26-year-old is seeded No.17 and has lived up to expectations so far. Coric received a bye in the first round thanks to his superior seeding and defeated France’s Hugo Gaston in his first match of the tournament. He followed it up with an impressive 7-6, 6-3 victory against No.12 seed Hubert Hurkacz. In the previous round, Coric came back from a set down to get the better of 29th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and set up a quarter-final clash against Altmaier.
Date – Thursday, 4th May
Court Type – Clay outdoor surface
Telecast – Tennis Channel
Start Time – 1 am IST Location – Madrid, Spain
Match details – Quarter-final
Altmaier and Coric have never played each other before on the ATP tour. This is the first professional head to head clash between the two players. Coric is the clear favourite going into this match both in terms of form and rankings. It will be a tough ask for Altmaier in this encounter but he is expected to pose a tough challenge. However, we predict the Croatian star to see off the German’s challenge and win in three sets.
More Tennis news
Follow our dedicated Tennis page for instant Tennis news and updates