Madrid Masters 2021: Men’s Singles Draw Preview, Analysis and Predictions
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One of the most important and prestigious event of the Clay court season, the ATP 1000 Madrid Masters is set to begin from the 2nd May. 8 out of the top 10 players in the world will battle it out in the Principality. Rafael Nadal is the top seed at the tournament while World No.3 Daniil Medvedev is seeded second.
Tournament Details:
- Tournament: Madrid Masters 2021
- Date: May 2-9, 2021
- Number of Entrants: 56 (Singles), 28 (Doubles)
- Venue: Madrid, Spain
- Surface: Clay Court
- Prize Money: €2,614,465
- Defending champion: Novak Djokovic
Top Seeds at the Monte Carlo Masters 2021
- Rafael Nadal
- Daniil Medvedev
- Dominic Thiem
- Stefanos Tsitsipas
- Alexander Zverev
Men’s Singles Draw Analysis and Prediction
Top Half
The top half of the draw has some potential mouth-watering clashes stacked up. It has the likes of Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem, Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev. Apart from these three, the half consists of many Clay court specialists in Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, in form Hubert Hurkacz and Roberto Bautista Agut.
All the top 10 seeds have been handed a first round bye. World No.2 Rafael Nadal has a very tough path ahead at Madrid. He could face Spanish teen sensation Carlos Alcaraz in his very first match(second round). In the Round of 16, another teenager, Jannik Sinner will await him. The 3rd round match against Sinner could be very tricky for Rafa given the Italian’s form.
In the quarter-finals, Nadal could face 5th seed Alexander Zverev. As for Zverev, he will face the winner of Karen Khachanov vs Kei Nishikori and could possibly face Miami Open champion Hubert Hurkacz. The draw would be a nightmare for Zverev given his poor form and a last 8 appearance would give him a lot of confidence.
Third seed, Dominic Thiem will be back in action and has been handed an easy draw. He will face a qualifier in the second round before a potential clash with Grigor Dimitrov in the Round of 16. He could very well face Andrey Rublev in the last 8.
Rublev also gets an easy draw until the quarter-finals. He will face the winner of Pedro Martinez vs Tommy Paul in the second round and could face a tricky opponent in 9th seed Roberto Bautista Agut in the 3rd round.
First Semifinal Prediction: Rafael Nadal vs Andrey Rublev
Bottom Half
The bottom half of the draw features 2nd seed Daniil Medvedev, in form Stefanos Tsitsipas, Diego Schwartzman and Matteo Barrettini. Medvedev will return to court first time after recovering from COVID-19.
The Russian isn’t much of a Clay court player given he is yet to get past the opening round at Roland Garros. But for him, the draw has played into his hands. He will face the winner of a qualifier vs Fokina in the second round and could face 16th seed Cristian Garin in the Round of 16.
He has been drawn with Italian 8th seed Matteo Berrettini and could possibly face him in the quarter-final. As for Berrettini, he could have a tricky first match against Fabio Fognini. And in the Round of 16, he could face home hero Pablo Carreno Busta.
PCB will fancy his chances to go deep in his home tournament. The fans will be an added support to an already supporting draw for the Spaniard. He will face the winner of Taylor Fritz vs Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the second round and could face Medvedev in the last 8.
World No.5 Stefanos Tsitsipas is the man to beat this Clay season. He has lost just one match on the surface to Rafa Nadal and is looking the best player in the field. He has a decent draw and will face the winner of Benoit Paire vs Nikoloz Basilashvili in the second round.
The Greek could face very well either Felix Augur-Aliassime or Casper Ruud in the Round of 16 and has been drawn with 7th seed Diego Schwartzman and could potentially face him in the quarter-final. As for Schwartzman, his quarter includes the likes of Ugo Humbery, Aslan Karatsev and Denis Shapovalov. The Argentine will have to play out of his skins to make it to the last 8.
Second Semifinal Prediction: Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Pablo Carreno Busta
Predicted Final
Rafael Nadal vs Stefanos Tsitsipas
This could be a repeat of the Barcelona Open final as the two players are the best two on clay this season. Last time in Barcelona, Tsitsipas was just 2 cms away from victory and could very well go one step ahead to lift his second Masters 1000 title of the season.
Predicted champion
Stefanos Tsitsipas
Also read: ‘Jannik Sinner is a machine’: Matteo Berrettini
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Lakshya Chopra
(2595 Articles Published)