Madrid Open 2023: Taylor Fritz vs Cristian Garin preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds, and pick

Fixture: (8) Taylor Fritz vs Cristian Garin

Date: Monday, May 1

Tournament: Madrid Open 2023

Round: Third Round (Round of 32)

Venue: Caja Magica, Madrid, Spain

Category: Masters 1000

Surface: Outdoor clay

Prize money: €7,705,780

Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video

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Taylor Fritz vs Cristian Garin preview

Fritz is into the third round.

Eighth seed Taylor Fritz continues his Madrid Masters campaign on Monday against the unseeded Cristian Garin for a place in the fourth round.

World No. 10 Fritz faced off against Christopher O'Connell in a tight tussle, narrowly edging out the first set in a tiebreak, saving two set points before converting his eighth.

The American fared better in the second - saving a lone break point and converting one - to bring up his 26th win of the season in 34 matches. Fritz is thriving on European clay, making back-to-back semifinals - Monte-Carlo and Munich last week - improving to 6-2 on the surface in 2023 and 2-2 in Madrid.

Meanwhile, the 73rd-ranked Garin outlasted Miomir Kecmanovic in three sets to improve to 14-9 on the season. He's now 6-2 in Madrid, having also reached the Round of 32 last year.

The 26-year-old is coming off quarterfinals in Munich and Houston in his last two stops after failing to reach the last eight during the Latin American Golden Swing. Garin also reached at least the third round at Indian Wells and Miami after emerging from qualifying.

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Taylor Fritz vs Cristian Garin head-to-head

Fritz lost his lone meeting to Garin in three sets in the Houston quarterfinals last year. He's trailing 1-0 in his head-to-head with the Chilean.

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Taylor Fritz vs Cristian Garin odds

Player	Moneyline	Handicap Bets	Total Games (over/under)
Taylor Fritz	-225	-1.5 (+105)	Over 22.5 (-105)
Cristian Garin	+175	+1.5 (-145)	Under 22.5 (-135)

(All odds as per BETMGM)

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Taylor Fritz vs Cristian Garin prediction

Garin is into the third round for the second straight year.

Both Fritz and Garin are quintessential baseliners, but the American takes the edge because of his aggressive gamestyle - big serve, powerful hitting off both flanks and good movement. Garin, by contrast, has more modest weapons but is a handful on clay, where he has a 76-47 record, while Fritz is 31-26.

The Chilean took his lone meeting on the surface with Fritz last year, but the latter is a much improved player on clay now. Fritz is also the fresher of the two players and is coming off a commanding performance against O'Connell - winning 83% of first-serve and an impressive 74% of second-serve points.

Garin will take confidence after beating the in-form Kecmanovic, but he has played five sets in two matches and could fall short against Fritz.

Pick: Fritz in straight sets