Mubadala World Tennis Championship 2022: Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Cameron Norrie preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (3) Stefanos Tsitsipas vs (5) Cameron Norrie.
Date: 16 December 2022.
Tournament: Mubadala World Tennis Championship.
Round: Quarterfinal.
Venue: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Category: Exhibition Tournament.
Surface: Outdoor Hardcourt.
Prize money: $250,000.
Match timing: 4 pm local time, 12 noon GMT, 7 am ET and 5:30 pm IST.
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | Australia - Stan Sport.
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Cameron Norrie preview
World No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas will take on 2022 Wimbledon semifinalist Cameron Norrie in the quarterfinals of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship on Friday.
Tsitsipas enjoyed considerable success this year, compiling a 61-24 record. He started strong by reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open for the third time. The Greek then made it to his first final of the season at the Rotterdam Open but lost to Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Tsitsipas performed strongly during the clay season, winning the Monte-Carlo Masters and finishing as the runner-up at the Italian Open. However, he lost in the fourth round of the French Open. He clinched his first title on grass in Mallorca but was knocked out of Wimbledon in the third round.
Tsitsipas made it to the final in Cincinnati but crashed out of the US Open in the opening round. He finished the season on a strong note, with a couple of final appearances in Astana and Stockholm along with a semifinal at the Paris Masters. The 24-year-old failed to get out of the group stage at the ATP Finals.
After a slow start to the season, which included a first-round exit from the Australian Open, Norrie captured his first title of the year at the Delray Beach Open. He continued his good run of form to reach the final of the Mexican Open but lost to Rafael Nadal.
Norrie's title defense at the Indian Wells Masters ended in the semifinals. After some decent performances during the clay swing, he captured his second title of the season at the Lyon Open. He wasn't able to maintain the momentum as he lost in the third round of the French Open.
Norrie then notched up his best result at a Major so far by reaching the semifinals of Wimbledon, going down to Novak Djokovic in four sets. He was quite consistent in the lead-up to the US Open and made it to the fourth round there. The Brit wasn't too impressive towards the end of the season, failing to win consecutive matches in any of the events he competed in.
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Cameron Norrie head-to-head
The two have split their previous two ATP meetings evenly to tie the head-to-head at 1-1. Norrie won their last match at the 2022 Mexican Open in straight sets.
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Cameron Norrie odds
(Odds will be added once they're available)
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Cameron Norrie prediction
While their previous encounter on the ATP tour took place months ago, they did meet at an exhibition event just last week. Norrie came out on top in straight sets and didn't lose his serve even once. Tsitsipas' service stats were quite decent, but his ground game didn't complement it.
Norrie was able to draw out errors quite easily from his opponent as Tsitsipas pulled the trigger too soon at times, or just mistimed his shots completely. The Brit is a tough player to wear down as he's able to stay in contention until the end thanks to his consistent gameplay.
Tsitsipas seems to have reached a stage in his career where his tactics can be easily deciphered by his opponents. He still does pretty well against lower-ranked players and a few of his contemporaries but has started to struggle against everybody else. He has the game to make it a competitive contest, but if he doesn't improve from last week, Norrie's likely to win yet again.
Pick: Cameron Norrie to win in three sets.