Paris Olympics 2024: Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Sebastian Baez preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (8) Stefanos Tsitsipas vs (12) Sebastian Baez
Date: July 31, 2024
Tournament: Paris Olympics 2024
Round: Third Round (Round of 16)
Venue: Stade Roland Garros, Paris, France
Category: Olympics
Surface: Clay
Live Telecast: USA - NBC, Peacock | UK - Eurosport, Discovery+, BBC iPlayer | Canada - CBC Gem, Radio Canada, Tou.tv | India - JioCinema, Sports18
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Sebastian Baez preview
Eighth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas will take on 12th seed Sebastian Baez in the third round of the Paris Olympics. The winner of the match will take on either Novak Djokovic or Dominik Koepfer in the quarterfinals.
Tsitsipas started his Olympic campaign with a hard-fought 7-6(6), 1-6, 6-1 win over Zizou Bergs. He then faced Dan Evans and registered a comfortable 6-1, 6-2 victory over Dan Evans to book his place in the third round of the Paris Olympics.
Baez entered the prestigious event at the back of a quarterfinal finish at the Generali Open in Kitzbuhel. The Argentine faced Thiago Monteiro in the opening round and won 6-4, 6-3.
He then faced Lebanon's Benjamin Hassan in the second round and started the match strongly by winning the first set 6-2. However, Hassan bounced back to take the second set 6-3 and force the match into a decider. Baez fought hard and edged out the Lebanese in a tiebreak to book his place in the third round of the Paris Olympics.
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Sebastian Baez head-to-head
Tsitsipas leads 2-0 in the head-to-head between the two. Their most recent encounter came in the third round of the 2023 Madrid Open, with the Greek winning 7-5, 3-6, 6-3.
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Sebastian Baez odds
All odds sourced from BETMGM.
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Sebastian Baez prediction
Tsitsipas will enter the match as the favorite to win, but Baez is a decent clay-court player and did manage to extend the last match between the two on the surface to three sets. So, the Argentine should not be written off.
Tsitsipas has a fairly effective serve that has fetched him seven aces so far during the Olympics. The Greek has won 66 out of 94 points (70.2%) so far on his first serve while fetching 41 winners. However, he has also produced 42 unforced errors so far and cannot have too many of those against Baez.
The Argentine plays his best tennis on clay and does not shy away from hitting his shots with power. Baez's first-serve numbers have been impressive, with 95 points won out of 119 (79.8%) and 12 aces to his name. He will look to make the most out of his serve while looking for the odd decisive break.
While the Argentine has won 26 out of 36 matches on clay, Tsitsipas has a relatively better record on the surface, winning 21 out of 26 fixtures so far. The Greek has not been in the best of form lately, but he is a fine, fine player on clay, and there is a good chance of him coming out on top, but not without a fight from Baez.
Pick: Tsitsipas to win in three sets.