Damien Kayat previews Maria Sakkari vs Irina-Camelia Begu and Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Bernabe Zapata Miralles in the Selected quarterfinal matches of the Madrid Open on 2 June 2023.
2023 WTA Tour
AWTA 1000
Madrid Open
La Caja Magica (Outdoor Clay)
Selected Quarterfinals
Matches- 3 June
Maria Sakkari 5/8 | Irina-Camelia Begu 11/10
This has been a really weird year for Greek star Maria Sakkari. She has competed in six regular tour events outside of a 3rd round run at the Aussie Open. She has reached the semi-final stage in three of those events and been eliminated in the first-round in the other three. She actually came into this year’s Madrid Open off back-to-back first-round defeats in Miami and Stuttgart.
I find it somewhat maddening that she still only has one title to her name (the 2019 Moroccan Open). It does at least bear testament to her consistency. This will be her 11th appearance in a WTA 1000 quarterfinal (she has won seven of ten thus far). She has always been a highly proficient clay-court operator. She reached the semi-finals of the 2019 Italian Open and enjoyed a splendid semi-final run at the 2021 French Open.
She is fresh off a brilliant statement victory against home favorite Paula Badosa and will be desperate to finally secure her maiden WTA 1000 title.
This has been quite a fertile little period for Romanian women’s tennis (especially in the absence of megastar Simona Halep). Sorana Cirstea just compiled a lovely set of performances at WTA 1000 level and now 32-year-old Irina-Camelia Begu has come to the party.
She has reached her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal in seven years and she has done it in style. She is yet to drop a set and looked completely assured against the hard-hitting Samsonova. This performance has almost come out of nowhere. She reached the Adelaide International 1 semi-final at the start of the year. But she has struggled to really string together consistent results since then.
But the Romanian looks like she may be ready to finally deliver on some unfulfilled clay-court potential. This is her 3rd Madrid quarterfinal after back-to-back quarters in 2015 and 2016. She also reached the semi-final in the 2016 Italian Open. And she won her first title in five years at last year’s Palermo Open.
The Verdict: Camelia-Begu to win in three sets
Sakkari leads Camelia-Begu 2-1 in their head-to-head rivalry. Their last meeting was a tight three-set victory for Sakkari at last year’s St Petersburg Open. This should be a fascinating match-up. Sakkari has the edge in power and has clearly been the superior player in her career.
But the Romanian seems to have found some magic on the Madrid clay this week. I’m willing to take a chance on her emulating Cirstea’s Miami showing with her own semi-final run. She is defending brilliantly and Sakkari does have the tendency to implode around this stage of a WTA 1000 event.
Stefanos Tsitsipas 1/8 | Bernabe Zapata Miralles 4/1
This could prove to be a fascinating ‘David and Goliath’ tussle. Current World No.5 Stefanos Tsitsipas started his year in spectacular fashion, reaching his 2nd Grand Slam final in Melbourne. He was soundly beaten by Djokovic and it seemed to have an effect on his subsequent form. But he is fresh off an excellent run to the Barcelona final. It’s little surprise that he has rediscovered his groove on this surface.
Four of his six career WTA 1000 finals have come on clay. He won back-to-back Monte-Carlo Masters title in 2021 and 2022. He also reached the final here back in 2019. He also held the 2021 French Open title in the palm of his hand before an epic Djokovic fightback left him devastated. Tsitsipas was born to play on this surface.
Sure, he hasn’t looked at his resplendent best in Madrid. He needed three sets to overcome both Thiem and Baez. But both of those players are seasoned clay-court players who can beat anyone on their day.
Speaking of clay-court aficionados, 26-year-old Spaniard Zapata Miralles is your quintessential clay-court specialist. He burst into the broader tennis consciousness by beating Taylor Fritz at last year’s French Open. He is actually playing some exceptional tennis on this surface this year. He reached the semi-finals in Buenos Aires and Rio before making it to the quarterfinals in Estoril. He is 13-11 for the season thus far. But he sits at 13-6 on clay.
This is the first time that he is competing in the main draw of this event and the World No.42 has been living on the edge in Madrid. He came from a set down in his opening match against Mackenzie McDonald.
He also had to save two match-points in the final set of that match. He then soundly beat Dan Evans prior to another seesaw win against Safiullin. He is an absolute passion merchant who grinds out results in almost masochistic fashion.
The Verdict: Tsitsipas to win three
This will be the first career meeting between these two. I really think that Zapata Miralles will put up a massive fight here. He is dogged and seems to feed off of these big occasions.
Also, Tsitsipas hasn’t looked quite at his best in Madrid. Still, I expect the Greek’s firepower to ultimately win the day.
