It’s a stacked schedule on Tuesday as the entire fourth round of the men’s singles event will grace the main two arenas at the ATP Madrid Open. A certain five-time champion is still in the running for another title, as is the top seed. As always, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the slate, including Carlos Alcaraz vs Jan-Lennard Struff. But who will make the quarterfinals?
ATP Madrid Day 7 Predictions
Francisco Cerundolo vs Alexander Zverev
Head-to-head: first meeting
Alexander Zverev has a phenomenal record in Madrid and a lot of that comes down to his serve. It simply shines even more with the altitude and the semi-indoor vibe of the main courts. He’s now 23-4 at this venue and in the last three editions, he was only stopped by one person (Carlos Alcaraz, twice). Francisco Cerundolo has that high-peak game that he unleashes on his opposition from time to time, but this is Zverev’s kingdom and he will be very hard to stop here.
Prediction: Zverev in 2
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Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Casper Ruud
Head-to-head: Ruud 4-2 Auger-Aliassime
No one has been winning as much as Casper Ruud this year with the Norwegian finding his aggression on the court of late. It led him to another ATP 1000 final and to a first ATP 500 title literally within the last month. So far he’s not showing any signs of slowing down either. He’s also won the last three matches with Felix Auger-Aliassime, including a 6-1 6-4 dismissal at this venue in 2021. It would be pretty surprising if the winning run came to an end here with the Canadian’s form still being rather unimpressive.
Prediction: Ruud in 2
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Jannik Sinner vs Karen Khachanov
Head-to-head: Sinner 3-1 Khachanov
Jannik Sinner was struggling physically in the second set against Pavel Kotov, but managed to pull through in two sets anyway. We’ll see if the hip concerns remain a cause for concern for the top seed, who has been practically unstoppable the entire season. Karen Khachanov learned it the hard way at the Australian Open as these two played their first straight-set match. His chances on clay might be a little better, but it’s still hard to believe Sinner won’t find a way to win at the moment.
Prediction: Sinner in 2
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Rafael Nadal vs Jiri Lehecka
Head-to-head: first meeting
Rafael Nadal had to spend three hours on the court against Pedro Cachin, but the good thing for him is that you couldn’t really see any massive signs of fatigue. Was his level convincing though? Not really and that’s something Jiri Lehecka will try to lean on here. Playing Nadal is still an extremely tough challenge mentally for anyone who hasn’t done that before, but at this stage the Czech could overwhelm the legendary opponent with his weapons, especially at altitude. Will he deliver?
Prediction: Lehecka in 3
Main photo credit: Mike Frey-USA TODAY Sports
