Canadian Open 2023: Taylor Fritz vs Alex de Minaur preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds, and pick

Fixture: (8) Taylor Fritz vs Alex de Minaur

Tournament:Canadian Open

Round: Third round (Round of 16)

Date: August 10, 2023

Venue: Toronto, Canada

Surface: Hardcourt

Prize money: $6,600,000

Taylor Fritz vs Alex de Minaur preview

Eighth seed Taylor Fritz will take on unseeded Australian Alex de Minaur as he seeks a place in the last eight at the Canadian Open.

World No. 9 Fritz commenced his bid for a maiden title at the ATP Masters 1000 event with a tough opener against unseeded Frenchman Ugo Humbert. The top-ranked American had to save a set point at 5-6 before taking the opener in a tiebreak.

Humbert refused to go down easily as he conceded just three games in the second set to force a decider. To his credit, though, Fritz quickly regained control of proceedings, producing a 6-3 set of his own to advance in two hours and 30 minutes.

He is now 42-17 on the season, with 28 of these wins coming on hardcourt. The American has also improved to 3-4 at the Canadian Open, where he made the third round last year as well.

Meanwhile, the 18th-ranked De Minaur had a far more comfortable outing in his second-round clash against Canadian wildcard Gabriel Diallo. The 24-year-old took the opener for the loss of four games before winning a 12-game second set for his 29th win in 45 matches this year.

Earlier this week, the feisty Australian had opened his campaign with an upset of 12th seed Cameron Norrie in straight sets. He's now 4-3 at the Canadian Open, where he also reached the third round last year.

Taylor Fritz vs Alex de Minaur head-to-head

The two players have evenly split their six previous meetings to leave their head-to-head at 3-3. Five of their clashes have been on hardcourt, where De Minaur leads 3-2.

Fritz won the pair's last clash in the 2022 Eastbourne semifinal in three sets.

Taylor Fritz vs Alex de Minaur odds

The odds will be updated when they release.

Taylor Fritz vs Alex de Minaur prediction

Both Fritz and De Minaur are formidable players on hardcourt, but the American holds the edge because of his marginally superior experience, consistency and pedigree.

Fritz has a 160-110 record on the surface and has won four titles, including one at Indian Wells last year. De Minaur, meanwhile, has a 141-81 record and has lifted six titles on hardcourt.

Fritz has dropped a set in his lone match this week, while De Minaur is yet to do so at the Canadian Open. Their hardcourt clashes have been competitive, with the former taking the last two at the 2022 Indian Wells (fourth round) in a third-set tiebreak and the 2021 US Open (first round) in four sets.

The trend should continue in this match as well.

Pick: Taylor Fritz in three sets.