Botic van de Zandschulp
2nd seed Botic van de Zandschulp takes on Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi in the semifinals of the Tata Maharashtra Open on Friday.
The Dutch No. 1 has been in blistering form at the Maharashtra Open so far. After receiving a bye into the second round, Botic van de Zandschulp has won both his matches in straight sets.
In the round of 16, he had to hold his nerves a bit to win a closely-contested first set. The second set saw Zandschulp playing more convincingly and he eventually won the match 7-5, 6-4. In the quarterfinals, he managed to thump Germany’s Maximilian Marterer 6-4, 6-2. So far, it has been a flawless campaign and he would hope for a couple of comprehensive wins to bag his first tour-level title.
The 26-year-old has also not dropped a set as yet. He has defeated two seeded players in the tournament so far and will be confident heading into the clash with Botic van de Zandschulp.
Bonzi notched up a comfortable win against Tseng Chun-hsin in the round of 32 in straight sets 6-0, 6-3. The world No. 60 followed it up with another win against third seed Emil Ruusuvuori in the second round. The first set was dominated by Bonzi before Ruusuvuori fought hard in the second set but to no avail. The match ended 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) in favor of Bonzi. The good run of form continued against sixth seed Filip Krajinovic. After winning the first set via tiebreaker, Bonzi wrapped up the encounter in the second set with a scoreline of 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.
Botic van de Zandschulp has a 1-0 lead over Benjamin Bonzi in the head-to-head scoreline. Outside of the tour, the Dutch star has another win against Bonzi. Their most recent encounter was in the 2022 Winston-Salem Open and Zandschulp won the match in straight sets.
Prediction: Botic van de Zandschulp to win in three sets.
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