Stefanos Tsitsipas had a decent start to his season this year, reaching the SF and QF once in each tournament earlier. But he looked a completely different player when he stepped on the clay court earlier this month. Cometh the hour, cometh the man? Not really. Cometh the clay, cometh Stefanos Tsitsipas! The 7th-ranked player recently won the Monte-Carlo Masters title for the third time in four years. With this emphatic triumph, he has now also managed to get back to the Top 10. Currently, he is in the QF of the Barcelona Open. Can the new number 7 in the world clinch yet another title this year? 

Well, the Greek tennis heartthrob will face Argentina’s number 5, Facundo Diaz Acosta in the QF of the Barcelona Open at Pista Rafa Nadal. Both players are in stellar form this year and have already tasted a title triumph each in 2024. Who has the edge in this high-octane contest?

Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Facundo Diaz Acosta: Preview

The resurgence of Stefanos Tsitsipas is bliss to watch for all the tennis fans. He is currently on an 8-match winning streak. Can he extend his winning spree with a victory against the Argentinian? Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Norwegian tennis star, Casper Ruud in the finals of the Monte Carlo by 6-1,6-4. In that match, he hit 3 aces and committed only a single double fault. His win percentage on the first serve was 60%, while it was 70% on the second serve.

Talking about his numbers on the breakpoints in that match, his numbers are quite decent (4/8). Tsitsipas won 8 of the service games against Ruud. He defeated Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena in his previous match comfortably by 7-5,6-3. The most notable statistic from that match was, that the Greek fired in 7 aces against Baena.

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However, his records in 2024 have been quite extraordinary so far. The Greek has managed to fire in 151 aces so far this season and committed 60 double faults in total. His first serve win percentage has been 74% while it’s recorded at 54% on his second serves. Tsitsipas has won 86% of his service games and 28% of his return games in 2024. Do these numbers put him ahead against Acosta?

Facundo Diaz Acosta on the other hand, didn’t have a great start to his season in 2024. But he managed to turn the tables when he stepped onto the court at his home tournament in Buenos Aires. He defeated Chile’s Nicolas Jarry by 6-3,6-4 in the finals of the Argentina Open to land his first title for the 2024 season. In that match against Jarry, Acosta hit just 2 aces and committed only 2 double faults. His first serve win percentage was 73% while it was around 69% on the second serve. His breakpoints stats were 2/5 and Acosta won 10 of his service games against Jarry.

In the Barcelona Open, he defeated Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan in his previous match in a three-set encounter. Throughout the match, the Argentinian fired in 3 aces and committed only 2 double faults. His win percentage on the first serve was 72%, while it was just around 56% on the second serve. Facundo Diaz Acosta won 11 of his service games against Marozsan.

Looking at the record of the 23-year-old left-handed Argentinian tennis star, he has hit 45 aces so far this season but has committed ten more number of double faults than his aces in 2024. His first serve win percentage is currently at 66%, while it’s just 52% on the second serve. Acosta has won 75% of his service games and 25% of his return games this year. Can he cause a major upset in this tournament defeating the former world number 3? Their head-to-head would give more clarity.

Tsitsipas vs Acosta: Head-to-Head

Oops! Error 404, the page doesn’t exist! Both of the tennis stars haven’t met each other earlier on the tour. However, Stefanos Tsitsipas has reached the finals of this tournament thrice(2018,2021,2023) and QF once(2022) before this. He’ll be looking forward to bank on his momentum on the clay court this season and landing the title this year.

While Facundo Diaz Acosta hasn’t yet competed in this tournament before. But reaching the QF in his first appearance shows the level of tennis this guy plays on the dirt. Who has the edge in this intriguing contest?

Prediction: Tsitsipas to win this contest in two sets

This is Facundo Diaz Acosta’s third QF on the clay courts this season. But his win-loss record for this season is just 9-8. Acosta would surely love to improve his numbers with a stellar performance in the rest of the year. Can he win this match against Tsitsipas? Well, that looks pretty unlikely at the moment.

In the Barcelona Open 3rd round, Tsitsipas cruised to a straight sets victory over Carballes Baena. This win adds to his already impressive win-loss record in the last 10 years, where he has won a solid 69% of his matches (463-209). Tsitsipas has a win-loss record of 17-6 in 2024, he looks pretty much unstoppable at the moment. It’s number 7 versus the number 53!

Stefanos Tsitsipas reached the finals of the French Open in 2021, while the Argentinian has only reached the first of the major clay court tournaments in 2023. Tsitsipas idolizes Roger Federer and he’d love to carry forward the one-handed-back hand legacy of the Swiss Maestro by moving further up in the rankings this year. While Acosta idolizes Rafael Nadal, he will look to put a good performance on the clay courts and make the ‘King of Clay’ get accustomed to his name. But there’s going to be only one winner in this contest and it’ll be Stefanos Tsitsipas!