Just 10 days after their last meeting in Dubai, Matteo Berrettini and Stefanos Tsitsipas renew hostilities in the BNP Paribas Open third round on Sunday, seeking a place in the fourth round at Indian Wells.
Tsitsipas, who clinched the Dubai Tennis Championships, has claimed six wins on the trot, and the Greek star aims for his sixth career triumph over the world No. 29 to extend his ongoing sequence of victories.
Match preview
Christopher O'Connell will be sick of the sight of Berrettini after falling to the former Italian No. 1 in consecutive tournaments in Dubai and Indian Wells, with the 28th seed claiming both in straight sets and defeating the Australian for a third time.
The victory was the 28-year-old's sixth of 2025 and third in four matches, with the only defeat in that period a three-set loss at the hands of Sunday's opponent in Dubai.
Despite recovering from losing the opening set in that Middle East event to claim set two 6-1, the 10-time ATP titlist could not retain that level in the event's quarter-final to exit against the eventual champion.
Regardless, Berrettini enters the maiden ATP 1000 event of the season after back-to-back quarter-final runs in Doha and Dubai, and he aims for a deep run in the Californian desert to improve a 6-5 record this season.
To do that, the 28-year-old must defeat his bete noire to progress to the event's fourth round for only the second time in his career, matching 2022's run.
The Greek player has inflicted more defeats (five) on Berrettini than any other player on the ATP Tour — one more than Novak Djokovic (four) — highlighting Tsitsipas's dominance over Italy's former No. 1.
The eighth seed and world No. 9 went on to win the title in Dubai after beating Berrettini, thus claiming his maiden ATP 500 title and his first on hard courts since 2019 to return to the top 10 in the rankings.
Seeking to pick up where he left off, Tsitsipas avoided stumbling so soon after a title victory with a comfortable 6-2, 6-4 win over Thiago Seyboth Wild, against whom he did not lose serve.
The 26-year-old 12-time ATP champion has not dropped serve in three consecutive matches across two tournaments — conceding zero break points against Tallon Griekspoor in the Dubai semi-final, saving all seven in the title match against Felix Auger-Aliassime and staving off both chances engineered by Seyboth Wild on Friday.
That was Tsitsipas's eighth career win at Indian Wells and a ninth this season, and the world No. 9 aims to improve each record by securing a sixth success over Berrettini on Sunday.
Tournament so far
Matteo Berrettini:
First round: Bye
Second round: vs. Christopher O'Connell 6-2 7-6[2]
Stefanos Tsitsipas:
First round: Bye
Second round: vs. Thiago Seyboth Wild 6-2 6-4
Head To Head
Dubai (2025) - Quarter-finals: Tsitsipas 7-6(5) 1-6 6-4
Gstaad (2024) - Semi-finals: Berrettini 7-6(6) 7-5
United Cup (2024) - Semi-finals: Tsitsipas 4-6 7-6(2) 6-4
Rome Masters (2021) - Round of 16: Tsitsipas 7-6(3) 6-2
Australian Open (2021) - Fourth round: Tsitsipas walkover
Australian Open (2019) - First round: Tsitsipas 6-7(3) 6-4 6-3 7-6(4)
US Open (2017) - Qualifying: Tsitsipas 6-7(6) 7-6(4) 7-6(2)
Since beating Berrettini in US Open qualifying eight years ago, Tsitsipas has secured four more victories over the Italian to lead their overall head-to-head 5-1 (4-1 in main draw events).
However, most match-ups have been hard-fought tussles, with every meeting including at least a tie-break.
Berrettini has lost all four encounters on hard courts heading into their fifth contest on the surface — most recently in Dubai — with the 10-time ATP champion's only success coming on the clay courts in Gstaad last year.
The Italian player ended a six-match winless sequence against top-10 players by defeating Djokovic for the first time in Doha, and he seeks consecutive victories against elite opponents for the first time since the 2023 United Cup when he beat Casper Ruud and Hubert Hurkacz.
We say: Tsitsipas to win in three sets
Despite packing a punch on serve and his ball-striking, Berrettini winning three of his previous 17 matches against top-10 players highlights the Italian's ongoing deficiencies against the best of the best.
Tsitsipas is backed to win a sixth encounter against the 10-time titlist, even if another three-setter is anticipated when both men take to the court in California.
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