Taylor Fritz vs Christopher O’Connell Pick – Tennis Predictions & Odds 4/29/23

Taylor Fritz will meet Christopher O’Connell in the Second Round of the 2023 Madrid Masters. The match will be played on Saturday April 29th, 2023.

Taylor Fritz is ranked 10th on the ATP Tour and is the 8th seed here at the Madrid Masters. The top American has really been a force over the past few seasons, winning his first Masters-1000 title and breaking into the top 10. Clay has always been his achilles heel though,but has made great strides, reaching back to back Semi-Finals this year on the surface, including in Monte-Carlo. He has a winnable match here against Christopher O’Connell and will be looking his big serve and forehand to dictate proceedings here.

Christopher O’Connell is unseeded here at the 2023 Madrid Masters and is ranked 81st in the world. In the midst of his most successful season so far, he defeated the veteran Filip Krajinovic in the First Round, defeating the Serbian 6-4, 6-7, 6-2. After a fantastic run last week in Munich where he reached his first career ATP Semi-Final, he is poised to make a crack at the top 50 with a strong result here in Madrid. While he is the major underdog here against Taylor Fritz, he knows that an upset is not totally off the cards.

This should be a straightforward win for Taylor Fritz, but I am a bit wary to fully trust his newfound clay court prowess. After struggling on the surface for years, he has suddenly had some amazing results, and I am hoping that it doesn’t come crashing down. Christopher O’Connell is not someone that you would think can beat Fritz, but he is most vulnerable on this surface. Despite that, Fritz is still the much better player and while I think it’ll be a bit closer than expected, he should win in straight sets.