Canadian Open 2023: Tommy Paul vs Francisco Cerundolo preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (12) Tommy Paul vs Francisco Cerundolo
Date: August 9, 2023
Tournament: Canadian Open 2023
Round: Second round (Round of 32)
Venue: Toronto, Canada.
Category: ATP Masters 1000
Surface: Hard
Prize money: $6,600,000
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | Canada - Sportsnet, TVA Sports | UK - Amazon Prime Video | India - Sony Liv
Tommy Paul vs Francisco Cerundolo preview
Tommy Paul and Francisco Cerundolo will battle it out in the second round of the 2023 Canadian Open on Wednesday.
Paul was drawn against former top 10 player Diego Schwartzman in the first round. The opening set was quite straightforward, with a single break of serve in the American's favor helping him claim the set.
Schwartzman raised his level in the second set and swept the last three games of the set to take it and level the proceedings. He struck first in the deciding set to go 2-1 up, but Paul leveled the score immediately.
With Schwartzman serving to stay in the match at 5-4, Paul broke his serve to bag a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 victory.
Cerundolo faced home favorite Alexis Galarneau in his opener. The Argentine broke his opponent's serve twice to go 5-1 up in the first set. He faced some difficulties while trying to close out the set, but after saving a couple of break points, he got the job done on his third set point.
Galarneau then came back from a break down in the second set to clinch it and force a decider. He continued to ride the wave of momentum in the third set to go 3-0 up. Cerundolo then turned the tables on the Canadian as he bagged six of the next seven games to win the match 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
Tommy Paul vs Francisco Cerundolo head-to-head
Cerundolo leads Paul 2-1 in the head-to-head. The former won their most recent encounter in the final of the 2023 Eastbourne International in three sets.
Tommy Paul vs Francisco Cerundolo odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Tommy Paul vs Francisco Cerundolo prediction
Both needed three sets to get past their respective first-round opponents. Paul had a pretty good day on serve and struck 31 winners in contrast to 21 unforced errors. Cerundolo, on the other hand, hit slightly more winners while committing fewer mistakes as well.
This will be their first encounter on hardcourts, as all of their previous matches have been on grass. All of their matches have gone the distance, with Cerundolo winning their most recent one just last month.
Paul's the better server between them by a slight margin. He has won 82% of his service games this season, while Cerundolo has won 76% of them. The American's footwork is pretty good too and his ground game is rather consistent too on the surface.
Cerundolo is a tough competitor when he's in the zone. However, Paul's a much better player on hardcourts compared to grass, so now he has an opportunity to level their rivalry.
Pick: Tommy Paul to win in three sets.