ATP Masters in Madrid, quarterfinals, Wednesday, 03.05.2023
The experts were actually unanimous before the Madrid Open 2023: If a German player has the chance to go far, it’s Alexander Zverev. Now the quarterfinalists have been found and look at that: Although Zverev is already out, the black-red-gold flag appears twice!
The world number 92 has raced into the tournament’s top eight, so it’s clear that he now wants to go further. At Bet-at-Home he may be the underdog, but in my Altmaier Coric tip I now reveal why I trust the surprise man to win at least one set!
Started in the qualification, stormed into the quarterfinals, got a lot of praise and applause? What Daniel Altmaier and Jan-Lennard Struff conjure up here in Madrid on the court, I can not rank high enough at this point!
While Struff has to play giant Stefanos Tsitsipas on Thursday, it’s Altmaier’s turn a day earlier. His opponent: Borna Coric! Far ahead of him in the rankings, but still not unbeatable.
After this tournament, Altmaier should make a huge leap in the world rankings, as he is still ranked 92nd. Already in the qualifier, it became clear how well the 24-year-old is in good form at the moment.
6-1, 6-1 against Attila Balazc and 6-4, 6-3 against Jurij Rodionov, he quickly reached the main draw. Two duels followed, in which Altmaier knew his opponents very well and obviously took advantage of exactly that.
First he won 6-4, 7-5 against Oscar Otte, then he cleared Yannick Hanfmann with a 7-6, 6-3. He proved in the round of 16 that he can not only stand up to national competition.
Against Jaume Munar, the match was over quickly, Altmaier managed a fixed 6-3, 6-0. He allowed only one break against him, and that in all three matches of the main competition! You really can’t play better at the first Masters in Madrid.
He seems to have come to terms with his early exit from Munich, where he was narrowly defeated by Aslan Karatsev. Anyway, it should be noted that this same Karatsev has now won against Daniil Medvedev, so he can’t be in such bad shape!
Now Daniel Altmaier will play Borna Coric for the first time ever. Against the Croatian of exactly the same size, who is ranked number 20 in the world rankings, the German is active in the role of the underdog with our betting providers.
The average odds of 2.45 to 1.53 show that a success would not amount to a sensation either. Borna Coric, who could naturally save himself a qualification due to the ranking, has eliminated the definitely more difficult opponents.
After a 6-3, 6-3 against Hugo Gaston, the duel with Hubert Hurkacz was on the agenda. 7-6, 6-3, in two straight sets Coric could cheer. The first lost set finally came his way in the round of 16.
Alejandro Davidovich-Fokina really demanded everything from him, but in the end Coric triumphed with a 6-7, 6-3, 7-6. A whopping 14 break chances had been granted to the Spaniard, against Altmaier he probably can’t afford that.
Although Coric is officially one of the 20 best players in the world, it was not necessarily expected that he would serve so strongly in Madrid. Before the Masters, he had failed four times in a row in the 1st round!
Now memories of 2017 are coming back, because back then the Croatian already reached the quarterfinals once. Among others, he beat Andy Murray, who was at the top of the world rankings at that time!
Shortly before the semifinals, however, it was over, he lost clearly in two sets against Dominic Thiem. So it’s a bad omen that it’s now going to be against a German-speaking player again?
My Altmaier Coric tip
From the German point of view, we of course hope that Daniel Altmaier’s (and also Jan-Lennard Struff’s) crazy run will continue in Madrid. In any case, Altmaier’s slick wins have been more than impressive.
Borna Coric is not playing badly in the Spanish capital, but really nothing went right in the many weeks before. A win against Hubert Hurkacz alone is not enough for me to send Altmaier home without any problems.
I have a lot of confidence in the German, and his broad chest should provide additional self-confidence. That’s why I think he’ll cheer at least once and so I’m guessing:
One set definitely goes to Altmaier!
