When Matteo Berrettini plays in Madrid: there's an important precedent with Raphael Collignon
Everything is ready for the first day of the Madrid Masters 1000 as far as singles matches are concerned. Among the tennis players involved on Wednesday, April 22, is Matteo Berrettini, who is eager to put behind him a start to the season without any particular sharpness that has brought him to the number 92 position in the world ranking.
The Roman tennis player will be on stage at the Estadio Manolo Santana, the main court of the Caja Magica, which can accommodate more than 12,000 spectators. His opponent will be Belgium’s Raphael Collignon, current number 71 in the ATP rankings and fresh from his recent final success at the Monza Challenger, after beating Dino Prizmic in the final act by two sets to zero.
The start time of the match could vary depending on the previous match on the same court, which will see Turkish Zeynep Sonmez and host Carlota Martinez Cirez engaged in the women’s tournament from 11 a.m. Berrettini and Collignon are expected to take the court no earlier than 12:30 p.m., and in any case about half an hour after the close of the match between the number 67 and number 352 WTA.
Between Berrettini and Collignon there is only one precedent, rather recent, that smiles not a little on the Roman: during the Davis Cup match between Italy and Belgium, valid for the semifinals, Berrettini won 6-3, 6-4, before Cobolli’s success against Bergs that would have given the Azzurri the pass to the final, then won against Spain.
As for the period of form, Berrettini has won two of his last five matches, overcoming level opponents such as Bublik in Miami and Medvedev in Monte Carlo (passing the first round in the Principality due to Bautista-Agut’s withdrawal is not part of the statistic). Losses, on the other hand, came against Vacherot in Miami, Buse in Marrakech and Joao Fonseca in Monte Carlo.
Collignon, on the other hand, comes from five out of five at the Challenger level in Brianza: beaten, without losing a single set, O’Connell, Bertola, Van Assche, Landaluce and Prizmic.
