Matteo Arnaldi
Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi will face Spanish veteran Jaume Munar in the third round of the Madrid Open
Italian youngster Matteo Arnaldi raised some eyebrows after pulling off a major upset against third seed Casper Ruud in his previous match. Arnaldi made it to the main draw of the Madrid Open after winning two rounds of qualifying and his fairy-tale run just doesn’t seem to stop.
He defeated Benoit Paire in the Round of 128 and followed it up with an incredible 6-3, 6-4 win against the World No.3 Casper Ruud. The victory was certainly not a fluke and Arnaldi has been in good touch having won the Murcia Open earlier this month. He has certainly shown that he can defeat anyone on his day.
Munar began his campaign at the Madrid Open with a 7-6, 7-6 win against Thanasi Kokkinakis. In the second round, he received a walkover from 30th seed Tallon Griekspoor mid-way through the match after he won the first set 7-6. Munar will fancy his chances against Arnaldi but the memories of his recent loss against the Italian at the Barcelona Open last week are very fresh.
Munar has had an average season so far and consistency has been a big problem for the Spaniard. His best performance so far in 2023 came at the Chile Open in March, where he reached the Semi-finals but eventually lost to local favourite Nicolas Jarry. It remains to be seen if Munar can make use of his good start in Madrid and go deep into the tournament.
Details:
Date – Sunday, 30th April
Court Type – Clay outdoor surface
Telecast – Tennis Channel
Start Time – To be Announced
Location – Madrid, Spain
Match details – Round of 32 match
Head to Head and Predictions
Arnaldi and Munar have played each other once before on the ATP tour and that sole encounter was played last week in Barcelona. The Italian emerged victorious with a convincing straight sets win and leads the overall head to head 1-0. However, Munar is in good form and this match is a really difficult one to call. Both players are very close in terms of gameplay and rankings. We are expecting an intense battle with Munar eventually edging out Arnaldi in three sets.
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