Roland Garros: Matteo Berrettini vs Daniel Altmaier preview, head-to-head & prediction | French Open 2020
Match details
Fixture: Matteo Berrettini vs Daniel Altmaier
Date: 3 October 2020
Tournament: Roland Garros 2020
Round: Third round (Round of 32)
Venue: Paris, France
Category: Grand Slam
Surface: Red clay
Prize money: Approx. €38,000,000
Match timing: 11 am CEST, 2.30 pm IST
Live telecast: USA - NBC Sports / Tennis Channel | India - Star Sports Select / Disney+ Hotstar VIP | Europe - Eurosport
Matteo Berrettini vs Daniel Altmaier preview
7th seed Matteo Berrettini will take on qualifier Daniel Altmaier in the third round of the 2020 French Open on Saturday.
For 22-year-old Altmaier, this has been nothing short of a dream main draw debut at a Grand Slam. The 186th-ranked German has overcome three rounds of qualifying and two main draw matches - against Feliciano Lopez and Jan-Lennard Struff - to get this far.
Altmaier now finds himself face-to-face with a top 10 player for the first time in his career.
Berrettini has equaled his best French Open performance from 2018 by reaching the third round. But now, with greater expectations on his shoulders, the Italian will be expected to go even further.
Berrettini has played a couple of decent matches so far at Roland Garros. He started with a straight-sets victory over Vasek Pospisil, and followed that up with a four-set win against Lloyd Harris.
Matteo Berrettini vs Daniel Altmaier head-to-head
Largely due to Daniel Altmaier’s inexperience, he and Matteo Berrettini are yet to play a match on the ATP tour. As such, the head-to-head currently stands at 0-0.
Matteo Berrettini vs Daniel Altmaier prediction
A match between a World No. 8 and World No. 186 would ordinarily be a straightforward affair for the higher-ranked player. But Daniel Altmaier is unlikely to be an easy opponent for Matteo Berrettini.
Much like the Italian, Altmaier too enjoys a good amount of success on his serve. That will help the German to hold off the pressure from Berrettini, and close out his service games quickly.
In terms of groundstrokes, Matteo Berrettini has the stronger forehand. Not only is he capable of adding a great amount of topspin to it, he can also smash it flat and hard.
However, in the backhand department, both players can be a bit erratic at times. Berrettini does tend to play a large number of slices on this wing, which can make things difficult for the one-handed backhand of Altmaier.
The key for Matteo Berrettini will be to use a lot of depth on his groundstrokes, as Altmaier has been troubled by that in the past due to his relatively weak footwork. At the same time, if Altmaier begins well and continuously attacks the Italian’s backhand, he too could reap rich rewards.
Going by experience and quality, Matteo Berrettini should be expected to win this match. But Altmaier can certainly make things difficult for him.
Prediction: Matteo Berrettini to win in four sets.