4th seed Holger Rune locks horns with world No. 24 Matteo Berrettini in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Mexican Open on Thursday.
The 19-year-old has won two matches so far to get to the quarterfinals and both wins came in contrasting fashion. He had to fight hard against Ben Shelton in the round of 32. After dropping a tightly-contested first set, the Danish youngster came back strongly to win the match 6-7 (7-9), 6-4, 6-2.
In the round of 16, Rune eased past Portugal’s Nuno Borges with a thumping win in straight sets 6-0, 6-2. Rune hit 7 aces and had a win percentage of 81 on the first serve. He also converted 5 out of 9 break points and wasn’t broken during the entire match.
The Italian tennis pro has had a rather smooth passage into the quarterfinals. He played some exhilarating tennis in the two matches so far and is yet to drop a set. In the round of 32, Berrettini bageled Alex Molcan in the first set. The Slovak No. 1 eventually retired in the second set while trailing 0-6, 0-1.
Berrettini followed it up with a one-sided win against Elias Ymer in the round of 16. The Swedish qualifier was outplayed by Berrettini, who won the match 6-3, 6-3. The 26-year-old Berrettini had a win percentage of 74 on the first serve and wasn’t broken.
Matteo Berrettini leads the head-to-head scoreline 1-0. He defeated Rune in their only previous meeting at the 2022 BNP Paribas Open 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Prediction: Holger Rune to win in three sets.
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