TennisSection previews the 2021 Monte-Carlo Masters as David Goffin (11) meets Marco Cecchinato in the Second Round on Wednesday April 14th, 2021.
Eleventh seeded Belgian David Goffin will face unseeded Marco Cecchinato of Italy in what is sure to be an interesting battle. Both players are very experienced and have had some success on clay throughout their careers. Will the Italian Qualifier be able to topple Goffin who needed three sets to come through his opening round match? Or will the seed cruise to victory here at the 2021 Monte-Carlo Masters event in Monaco.
David Goffin is currently ranked #15 in the ATP world rankings, and will be hoping for a strong performance here to kick start his 2021 season. He will be aiming to break back into the top 10, however his year has not gone to plan so far, with some disappointing and inconsistent results mixed in with winning the Montpelier Open. The Belgian is returning to Monte-Carlo, a place where he has had success before, reaching the Semi-Finals in 2017. Goffin was pushed to the limit in his First Round win by Marin Cilic, eventually winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-0. Goffin served poorly during this match but was able to keep his composure when it mattered most. He will know that he has to be much better against Marco Cecchinato, who is seemingly in fine form.
Marco Cecchinato qualified for the main draw here at the 2021 Monte-Carlo Open, and was certainly very impressive in his First Round victory over Dominik Koepfer. He served very well in that match, only being broken once and will be high in confidence heading into his match against David Goffin. Cecchinato is known for his prowess on clay, especially his shocking run to the Roland Garros Semi-Finals a few years ago, but has struggled to reach those heights since. Now ranked a lowly #92, he mainly plays on the Challenger Tour and lower level ATP tournaments and will be eager to reach the level he once was, with a career-high of #16. He is a very solid baseline player who gives very little away. While he enters this match as the underdog, he certainly is capable of causing the upset over a struggling opponent in Goffin.
This is set to be a very competitive match between two highly accomplished players. This is the fourth time they have faced each other on the ATP Tour, with David Goffin leading the head to head by 2-1. However, one of those matches was on a hard court so they have split the clay court matches. Normally I would pick Goffin to win this match comfortably, but he has been in very poor form of late, and Marco Cecchinato is seemingly back to his best, and was more impressive in the previous round. I expect a very close match, with three sets a very likely outcome. All things considered, I am going to back David Goffin to win here. He has much more “big match” experience than his opponent in recent years, and Cecchinato is no longer the danger on clay that he once was. Expect a fierce battle, but David Goffin will win and advance to the Round of 16 here at the 2021 Monte-Carlo Open.
Free Tennis Pick and Prediction: David Goffin to win in three sets.
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