Aslan Karatsev
An upbeat Pedro Martinez will take on 8th seed Aslan Karatsev in the quarterfinals of the Tata Maharashtra Open on Thursday.
It’s been a campaign full of perseverance and grit for Pedro Martinez. He has won both of his matches so far in three sets after dropping the first sets.
In the round of 32, the Spaniard lost the first set quite tamely against local favorite Ramkumar Ramanathan. However, things changed in the second set and Martinez got the better of the Indian player by a close margin. In the third set, Martinez was on song and didn’t give much of a chance to his big-serving opponent and eventually won the match 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. In the round of 16, Martinez came up against 4th seed Sebastian Baez. Once again, Baez dominated and won the first set but Martinez came back strongly to outplay the Argentine in the next two sets to pick up a 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 win.
The Russian star has had a more dominant campaign. He won both of his matches in straight sets but in the round of 16, he was made to sweat by Tim van Rijthoven.
Karatsev began his campaign in Maharashtra with a comprehensive 6-1, 6-3 win against Pablo Andujar. The 29-year-old went into the round of 16 beaming with confidence. However, Tim van Rijthoven gave him a real scare and took both sets to the tiebreaker. The match eventually ended 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (10-8).
The head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 0-0 as the two players have never faced each other.
Prediction: Aslan Karatsev to win in three sets.
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