Fasten your seatbelts; it’s the clash of America’s number one versus the ‘Giant Slayer’ from Argentina! Taylor Fritz is in red-hot form this year and has already won a title at the Delray Beach Open by defeating his compatriot Tommy Paul by 6-2, 6-3 in the finals earlier this year. Fritz has also made a QF run at the AO and reached the finals of the Bavarian International before taking his flight to Madrid. On the other hand, Francisco Cerundolo is looking unstoppable at the moment. He defeated the world number 5, Alexander Zverev in his previous match!

What lies ahead for America’s heartthrob? Francisco Cerundolo defeated the two-time champion at the Madrid Open in his previous match to make way for his fourth Masters 1000 QF. This was in fact his third Top 5 win and he became the first Argentinian tennis player to reach the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open since Juan Martín del Potro in 2012. Taylor Fritz is a big fan of Juan Martín del Potro. He would now be looking forward to stopping Cerundolo from making it to the semifinals of an ATP Masters 1000 tournament for the second time in his career.

Taylor Fritz vs Francisco Cerundolo: Preview

Taylor Fritz is yet to drop a set in this tournament! He defeated Hubert Hurkacz (9) in his previous match by a 7-6(2), 6-4 margin. He has won six out of eight games on clay courts so far this season. Taylor Fritz is known for his fiery serves and he hammered ten aces in his previous game against Hurkacz. He committed only a single double fault in the entire game and his first-serve win percentage was 88%. But his second-serve win percentage dropped a little to 80%. Fritz converted only one out of his five breakpoints against the Polish tennis star.

If we look at his overall stats for this season, Cerundolo will mostly be concerned with the high number of aces hit by the 26-year-old American in 2024. Taylor Fritz has hit a staggering 208 aces and committed just 27 double faults so far this season. He has won 86% of his service games, compared to just 24% of his return games. Face the ace and ace the aces will be the motto for Cerundolo ahead of this game!

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However, when it comes to aces, Francisco Cerundolo’s numbers aren’t that impressive compared to the American. He has hit only sixty-one aces so far this season and committed fifty-one double faults. Even his win percentage on service games (73%) is quite low compared to Taylor Fritz. He will surely be looking forward to improving his numbers in the next match. But his win percentage on the return games (26%) is slightly more than that of the American tennis star.

Looking at his numbers from his previous match against Zverev, he hit only a single ace and committed only one double fault in the entire match. His first-serve win percentage was 79% but it got down to 57% on the second-serve. However, the Argentinian managed to convert two court his three breakpoints in that match. If Francisco Cerundolo somehow manages to beat Taylor Fritz in this match, then he’ll jump straight to number 17 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. But has the number 22 faced the number 13 earlier in his career?

Fritz vs Cerundolo: Head-to-Head

Yes, they have faced once in their career. Guess what? It was on the clay court surfaces of the 2023 Roland Garros. That time, it took four sets to decide the ultimate winner in the third-round clash. Francisco Cerundolo defeated Taylor Fritz by 3-6,6-3,6-4,7-5 to make his way into the next round. Even in that match, Fritz hit eight more aces compared to the Argentinian. But both of them were levelled at four when it came to committing double faults. Francisco Cerundolo won 65% of his first serve and 60% of his second serve in that match.

While Taylor Fritz won 68% of his first serve and just 48% of his second serve,. Cerundolo converted just six of his twenty-one breakpoints, while Fritz converted only four of his fifteen breakpoints. Converting the half-chances will be the key to success in this enticing encounter in Madrid. Taylor Fritz got his second career win over a top-10 player on clay recently, and he would now look forward to carrying this winning moment and making an extended run into this tournament.

Prediction: Fritz to win this match by a close margin

If we look at their win-loss record for this season, Fritz has a record of 15-7, while Cerundolo is at 9-12. The Argentine’s best result this year came at the Rio Open, where he reached the SF. Cerundolo loves playing on clay and has a good forehand to outplay his opponents. While Taylor Fritz has never won a trophy on this surface. However, if we look at Fritz’s performance in this tournament so far, it seems like the faster surface in Madrid is suiting his playing style.

Talking about his playing style, Taylor Fritz is an offensive baseliner who loves to rely on his powerful groundstrokes to force an error out of his opponents. He has some real venom in his serves. Even his forehands and backhands are quite exceptional. Can these weapons outclass another in-form tennis player? Yes, but not by a big margin! If we look at Taylor Fritz’s consistency this season, he will surely be a step ahead of Francisco Cerundolo.