Matteo Berrettini made a really good start at the 2024 Marrakech Open, and he'll face good friend Lorenzo Sonego in the quarter-finals.
The friendship between the two Italians is well-known, as they grew up together on the ATP Tour. They're very good friends, so much so that they also spent some time together away from the tennis courts, but they also often meet during Davis Cup ties.
The good friends will now face each other at the Marrakech Open. Berrettini made a winning start, easily beating Alexander Shevchenko for his first Tour-level win since coming back this year, and then added another win against Jaume Munar.
Sonego faced Sumit Nagal and overturned a first-set loss to win the match in three sets, and he will try to follow up on that win in the quarter-finals.
They've played a few times so far, and Berrettini has generally been better, leading 2-1 in the H2H. None of their matches, however, was played on hard courts, which is something to remember.
Sonego has a long history on the surface, but Berrettini has played on it pretty well, winning trophies. He's also been quite good this week and will only get better with every match, so it's not a surprise that he's even favoured in this match.
| Matteo Berrettini | Lorenzo Sonego | |
| 2 | H2H | 1 |
| 135 | Rank | 61 |
| 27 | Age | 28 |
| 2-1 | 2024 W/L | 5-9 |
| 158-87 | Career W/L | 127-135 |
I think Berrettini will be able to win this match because he's played pretty well and has some major weapons that can give Sonego some trouble.
The fellow Italian is a tricky player as well, but I wasn't very impressed with how he handled the matchup against Nagal. That showed that he's very beatable, and I think Berrettini will be able to use that to his advantage.
Prediction: Matteo Berrettini to win in two sets.