Madrid Masters, Qualifying, Tuesday, 23.04.2024
Can Dominic Thiem qualify for the Masters in Madrid? The man from Wiener Neustadt struggled in the first qualifying round. After equalizing the set in the meantime, he won the match after a long third round.
Now a completely different hurdle awaits with Thanasi Kokkinakis. The Australian recently won the clay court challenger in Sarasota and had no problems in his first Madrid match.
I assume that he will also get off to a good start against Thiem and take the first set straight away, with Betway offering the right odds
It’s not Thiem’s clay court season yet. Wrist problems slowed down the 2020 US Open champion for a while. He has played in five tournaments so far, with the second round in Estoril after a tough battle against Maximilian Marterer being the highest of the highs.
The Austrian tennis problem child’s record is three wins from eight matches. The former world number three is only ranked 110th in the world rankings, raising doubts as to whether he will even make it into the main draw at the Masters in Madrid.
As a two-time finalist at the tournament in 2017 and 2018, he did not receive a wild card. Incidentally, he lost to clay court king Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev back then
If the best tennis betting providers have their way, it will be difficult to be there this time. At odds below 1.45, Kokkinakis goes into the qualifying final against Thiem as the clear favorite (2.75).
Gregoire Barrere maneuvered Kokkinakis out of the field in the first round of Bucharest. Kokkinakis was not fresh enough after his triumph in Charleston with five matches in six days and a quick trip to Romania.
He got his revenge just one week later in the first qualifying match. The final score was 6-2, 6-2. This was much easier for him than Thiem, who had to play out three sets against Felipe Meligeni Alves (6-2, 3-6, 7-5).
In total, Thiem had to fight off eleven break chances. Kokkinakis didn’t offer a single first serve against Barrere with a strong 78 percent success rate.
Due to the rocket start, I have my sights set on the 1.45 odds from the Betway app for Kokkinakis to win the first set.
The 28-year-old is much more confident on the court. Thiem continues to struggle with the consistency of his shots and still makes plenty of mistakes. Both Thiem and Kokkinakis love warm, fast conditions, which we also have in Madrid.
However, I think Kokkinakis has a slight advantage, partly because he has been serving more confidently recently and should be able to get more free points. Overall, he is currently showing more confidence on the court, which is also underlined by the large sports betting community
At the betting provider Winamax, 97 percent have opted for the Australian’s odds to win. The odds are also the most popular, a great feature at Winamax, where new customers are also credited with free bet credit of up to 100 euros after their first deposit. There is also no betting tax.
For the direct 2:0 Kokkinakis victory, the stake is already doubled. Also worth considering, Thiem has not won a single round on clay in his failures this year. Before Madrid, he served in Munich.
There he was surprisingly defeated by Alejandro Mono Canas, a player outside the top 200 who climbed to a new high in the world rankings thanks to his success. At the Masters in Monaco, he lost to Roberto Bautista Agut in the qualifying round. Lucky loser Richard Gasquet was the last man standing in Estoril
My Kokkinakis Thiem tip
Thiem is still struggling with his form, even in the first qualifying round in Madrid he wasn’t able to show his full conviction. I see Kokkinakis, who won a Challenger in the States and started with a 6-2, 6-2 in Madrid, in stronger form.
He didn’t concede a break chance with an outstanding service ratio and, on paper, benefits from the fast conditions in the Spanish capital a little more than his opponent on Wednesday. I expect him to take the momentum from his recent successes into his debut match against the Austrian and take the first round.
My Kokkinakis Thiem prediction: Kokkinakis wins the first set!
