TennisSection previews the 2021 French Open as Novak Djokovic (1) meets Matteo Berrettini (9) in the Quarter-finals on Wednesday, June 9th 2021.
Will Matteo Berrettini get the biggest win of his career under his belt as he looks to make his way to the Semi-finals here at Roland Garros and shock everyone? Will Novak Djokovic play as solidly as he did in those last 3 sets against Lorenzo Musetti in the Round of 16 to get the win here? Both players have played some great tennis this week, but only one will make their way to the Semi-finals of the 2021 French Open. Who will it be?
Matteo Berrettini did not have to play his Round of 16 match against Roger Federer as Federer withdrew from the tournament to ensure he could rest enough to have his best game for the grass court season. Even if he did have to play that match, myself and I think most people were confident in Matteo Berrettini’s ability to have won that match. Matteo has been in great form here at the 2021 French Open, with his most recent match being against Soonwoo Kwon where he won in straight sets 7-6/6-3/6-4. Matteo will be very happy to have seen Novak Djokovic not playing at his best in the Round of 16, and I am sure this will give him some belief that he can potentially cause the upset.
Novak Djokovic was losing 2-0 against the 19-year-old Italian up and comer, Lorenzo Musetti, in the Round of 16 and it was potentially looking like there was going to be a huge upset. However, Novak Djokovic is one of the best players of all time, and he showed us all why he is so good. Novak made the comeback, winning the next two sets 6-1/6-0 in less than an hour and then was up 4-0 in the 5th set before Lorenzo Musetti retired to prevent a potential groin injury which he developed a couple games before. Novak Djokovic will be very happy with that comeback and it was a statement sent to everyone, but he will also know that if he is 2-0 down against Matteo Berrettini in the Quarter-finals, he will not be able to comeback as easily.
Novak Djokovic and Matteo Berrettini have met 1 time before, with Novak Djokovic leading the head to head 1-0. They met in 2019 at the Nitto ATP Finals, where Djokovic won 6-2/6-1. Although Novak won that match in such strong fashion, you have to remember the circumstances. That was Berrettini’s first ATP Tour Finals and he was just happy to be there. Now that Berrettini is more experienced, has played some great tennis here at Roland Garros, and has seen how Djokovic struggled in those first two sets against Lorenzo Musetti, he will have some belief. However, at the end of the day, it is always hard to go against Novak Djokovic. Novak will be working very hard behind closed doors to ensure he does not perform as slowly when the match starts, and he will use his experience to win the match in 4 sets.
Free Tennis Pick and Prediction: Novak Djokovic in 4 Sets.
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