Jaume Munar vs Tallon Griekspoor
Time: 2:30 PM IST
Head-to-head: 0-1
Thanks to an impressive start to his season, Tallon Griekspoor has earned himself a seeded spot in the main draw of his debut campaign at the Madrid Masters. He even received a bye in the first round as a result. Griekspoor made a splash at the beginning of the year, winning his first title in Pune and continuing to deliver outstanding performances in the following weeks. As a result, he achieved his career-high ranking of #34.
Unfortunately, the Dutch player has been dealing with an ankle injury for a while now, and it has started to affect his performances in recent matches. Griekspoor has only won one out of four matches played on clay this year, and in the victory against Elias Ymer in Marrakech, he had to mount a three-set comeback effort.
Prior to the clay swing, Griekspoor had only lost five matches on the main tour this year, all of which were to top-tier players such as Stefanos Tsitsipas, Jannik Sinner, Andrey Rublev, Novak Djokovic, and Carlos Alcaraz.
After five unsuccessful attempts in the main draw of the Madrid Masters between 2016 and 2021, Jaume Munar Clar finally secured his first-ever win this week. He defeated Thanasi Kokkinakis in two tiebreakers, although he had to fight hard for it. Munar Clar saved a set point in the first-set tiebreaker and trailed 2-5 in the second set before eventually winning in straight sets.
Munar Clar has a 1-3 record in the second round of Masters events in his career. What’s interesting is that all four of those matches have gone the distance. For instance, he recently faced off against the eventual champion Andrey Rublev at the Monte Carlo Masters a few weeks ago.
We expect a tight encounter between the two clay court specialists, with Griekspoor having the edge provided his fitness levels are intact.
Prediction: Back Tallon Griekspoor to win @ 1.80