Andy Roddick and Tracy Austin share the same view on who they think will win the Madrid Open.
The Masters 1000 event in the Spanish capital is now in its final stages and the remaining players will need to keep raising their levels if they want to win the title.
From the players still in the men’s draw, only two have previous experience of lifting a title at this level.
As they assess the remaining rounds competitors, Andy Roddick and Tracy Austin are both in agreement on the man they think will lift the trophy on Sunday.
Who do Andy Roddick and Tracy Austin think will win the Madrid Open?
The men’s draw is wide open at the Madrid Open this year due to the early exit of several higher seeded players.
There-time champion Novak Djokovic lost his opening match to Matteo Arnaldi, and while the likes of Taylor Fritz and Alexander Zverev also lost early, World number two Carlos Alcaraz did not compete due to injury.
Speaking of Arnaldi, he will play Jack Draper for a spot in the Madrid semi-finals and following the Brit’s comprehensive 6-2, 6-2 victory over Tommy Paul, Roddick and Austin believe he will go all the way in Madrid.
“What that says to me is opportunity with a capital O. I think I might have to go with Draper, with the way he played so well today [against Paul],” Austin told the Tennis Channel live podcast.
“I think because of the faster conditions with altitude and Jack’s serve, he has gotten fitter and stronger and you can’t find his backhand. Where is it? Hard to find it.
“I think the confidence as well that he won at Indian Wells, on the slower conditions that are jumping, I think Jack has to feel he is playing his best tennis.” Roddick added: “Not surprisingly I tend to agree with Tracy most of the time.”
Andy Roddick thinks Jack Draper is playing like a top 5 player
Roddick has been watching Draper’s progress over the course of a season where he has taken his game to the next level. In March Draper won the Indian Wells Masters to claim what is the biggest title of his career so far.
He has vastly improved his fitness which has helped his overall game, and Roddick believes Draper’s form resembles that of a top five player.
“The way Draper is creating speed with the forehand and that’s before we even get to the serve and the much improved backhand and the fitness,” Roddick explained.
“And the conditions – dry air, the ball is jumping – he is playing great. Dry air and the ball is jumping in Indian Wells, he played fantastic.
“So he obviously likes this combination of factors, not unlike Alcaraz, these are the first two Masters 1000 we saw him break through at because he gets that jump on his forehand.
“The biggest thing with Draper is that he has shown flashes of being a top five or top 10 player but it’s not consistent. He has had no weeks off this year. He is winning three or four matches every single week. I think he is a top five player right now.”
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