Max Houkes and Marco Cecchinato will clash against each other in the quarter of the Milan Challenger for the 1st time in their career. They are scheduled to play on Thursday at 3:30 pm on CENTER COURT. In the following paragraphs, you can find the head to head analysis and prediction.
Prediction, odds and live streaming
The pick for Tennis Tonic is Marco Cecchinato who should win in 3 sets.
Marco Cecchinato -> 1.53
Max Houkes -> 2.375
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Prediction and head to head Max Houkes vs. Marco Cecchinato
There is no head to head record between Max Houkes and Marco Cecchinato since this will be the first time that they will square off in the main tour.
Max Houkes
| Year | Total | Hard | Clay | I.hard | Grass | Carpet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 49-32 | 5-3 | 44-27 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 |
| 2024 | 44-17 | 0-0 | 44-17 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| 2023 | 40-33 | 1-1 | 39-30 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| 2022 | 70-20 | 0-0 | 70-20 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| 2021 | 32-16 | 2-2 | 30-14 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
Ranked no. 256, Houkes reached the quarter after beating Giovanni Fonio 3-6 6-3 7-6(5) and Thomas Faurel 2-6 6-0 6-2.
In the 2nd round against Faurel, Houkes recovered from a 1-set down deficit before winning (2-6 6-0 6-2). During the match, Houkes scored 79 points vs Faurel’s 61. The Dutch was exceptionally aggressive to blast 26 winners.
Talking about the service games, Houkes struck 2 aces and he was extremely solid in conceding no double faults. Max Houkes lost the serve twice and he saved 2 break points. Furthermore, Houkes put 63% of his first serves in, winning 63% (26/41) of the points behind his 1st serve and 71% (17/24) on the 2nd serve. Houkes broke Faurel 5 times after converting 50% of his break points (5/10).
Overall Performance in this tournament
Max has lost 2 set in this tournament to win 53% of the points he played.
Houkes has a solid record in the last 8 years having won 65% of his matches (272-145). 23-15 on clay in 2025. In connection with his performance on the same surface of this event, Houkes has a compiled258-126 record in the last 8 years on clay.
Max’s best result of the current season was reaching the final in M25 Santa Margherita di Pula.
Max has a composed 23-17 win-loss record in 2025, 23-15 on clay (See FULL STATS).
Previously in the Milan Challenger
The Dutch has never competed in this tournament before.
Marco Cecchinato
| Year | Total | Hard | Clay | I.hard | Grass | Carpet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 39-34 | 0-0 | 39-34 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| 2024 | 26-25 | 0-2 | 26-23 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| 2023 | 13-23 | 1-4 | 12-17 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0-0 |
| 2022 | 43-33 | 0-3 | 43-30 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| 2021 | 32-27 | 1-5 | 31-19 | 0-2 | 0-1 | 0-0 |
Ranked no. 437, Cecchinato got to the quarter after beating Max Alcala Gurri 6-4 6-1 and Frederico Ferreira Silva 6-3 6-0.
In the 2nd round, Cecchinato had a good straight sets win against Ferreira Silva (6-3 6-0). During the match Cecchinato scored 61 points vs Ferreira Silva’s 40. The Italian was quite aggressive to blast 20 winners.
Talking about serving, Cecchinato recorded 4 aces and he committed only 1 double fault for the entire match. Marco Cecchinato conceded no breaks for the entire match to save 4 break points. Furthermore, Cecchinato put 48% of his first serves in, winning 69% (20/29) of the points behind his 1st serve and 63% (20/32) on the 2nd serve. The Italian broke Ferreira Silva 4 times after converting 40% of his break points (4/10).
Overall Performance in this tournament
The Italian hasn’t dropped yet a set in the tournament to win 59% of the points he played.
The Italian’s best result of the current season was reaching the semifinal in the Kigali 1 Challenger.
Cecchinato has a compiled 18-18 win-loss record in 2025, 18-18 on clay (See FULL STATS).
Previously in the Milan Challenger
Previously, he won this tournament once in 2016. See his history.
H2H Performance in the tournament (main draw)
Matches, sets, games and points
| Points | Houkes | Cecchinato |
|---|---|---|
| Match played | 2 | 2 |
| Tot Set | 6 | 4 |
| Tot Games | 53 | 32 |
| Pts | 193-170 | 126-89 |
| Total Points | 363 | 215 |
| Winners | 64 | 44 |
| %Winners | 33% | 35% |
Both Houkes and Cecchinato played 2 matches. At the moment, Max Houkes lost 2 sets while Marco Cecchinato hasn’t lost a set so far. Houkes has played 2 sets more than Cecchinato (6 vs 4). Therefore, Houkes played 21 games more than Cecchinato. Max scored 64 winners (33% of the total points). On the other side, Marco struck 44 winners (35%).
Serve Performance
| Serve | Houkes | Cecchinato |
|---|---|---|
| Aces | 8 | 6 |
| Avg per match | 4 | 3 |
| 1st in | 102/173 | 59/114 |
| %1st in | 59% | 52% |
| 1st pts | 64/102 | 44/59 |
| %1st pts | 63% | 75% |
| 2nd pts | 47/71 | 34/55 |
| %2nd pts | 66% | 62% |
Houkes recorded 8 aces (4 per match). Cecchinato struck 6 aces (3 per match). Houkes won 63% points behind his first serve. He pretty solid on his second serve to win 66% of the points. On the other side, Cecchinato won 75% of the points behind his first serve. He had a solid display on his second serve to win 62% of the points.
How they played the important points
| Breaks | Houkes | Cecchinato |
|---|---|---|
| Won | 7 | 7 |
| Converted | 7/22 | 7/16 |
| % Converted | 32% | 44% |
| Conceded | 17 | 5 |
| Saved | 13 | 5 |
| % Saved | 76% | 100% |
| Times Broken | 4 | 0 |
The Dutch broke his opponents 7 times with a 32% conversion rate. Houkes dropped his serve 4 times and he saved 76% of the break points that he conceded. Cecchinato broke his opponents 7 times with a 44% conversion rate. The Italian was rock solid on his serve as he has never conceded a single service game after saving 5 break points.
| Houkes | ||||
| R1 Fonio | R2 Faurel | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score | 3-6 6-3 7-65 | 2-6 6-0 6-2 | ||
| Tot Set | 3 | 3 | 6 | |
| Tot Games | 31 | 22 | 53 | |
| pts | 114-109 | 79-61 | 193-170 | |
| Total points | 223 | 140 | 363 | |
| Winners | 38 | 26 | 64 | |
| %Winners | 33% | 33% | 33% | |
| SERVE | ||||
| Aces | 6 | 2 | 8 | |
| Double Faults | 6 | 0 | 6 | |
| 1st in | 61/108 | 41/65 | 102/173 | |
| % 1st in | 56% | 63% | 59% | |
| 1st pts | 38/61 | 26/41 | 64/102 | |
| % 1st pts | 62% | 63% | 63% | |
| 2nd pts | 30/47 | 17/24 | 47/71 | |
| % 2nd pts | 64% | 71% | 66% | |
| Breaks | ||||
| Won | 2 | 5 | 7 | |
| Converted | 2/12 | 5/10 | 7/22 | |
| Converted % | 17% | 50% | 32% | |
| Conceded | 13 | 4 | 17 | |
| Saved | 11/13 | 2/4 | 13 | |
| Saved % | 85% | 50% | 68% | |
| Times Broken | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| Cecchinato | ||||
| R1 Alcala | R2 Ferreira Silva | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score | 6-4 6-1 | 6-3 6-0 | ||
| Tot Set | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| Tot Games | 17 | 15 | 32 | |
| pts | 65-49 | 61-40 | 126-89 | |
| Total points | 114 | 101 | 215 | |
| Winners | 24 | 20 | 44 | |
| %Winners | 37% | 33% | 35% | |
| SERVE | ||||
| Aces | 2 | 4 | 6 | |
| Double Faults | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| 1st in | 30/53 | 29/61 | 59/114 | |
| % 1st in | 57% | 48% | 52% | |
| 1st pts | 24/30 | 20/29 | 44/59 | |
| % 1st pts | 80% | 69% | 75% | |
| 2nd pts | 14/23 | 20/32 | 34/55 | |
| % 2nd pts | 61% | 63% | 62% | |
| Breaks | ||||
| Won | 3 | 4 | 7 | |
| Converted | 3/6 | 4/10 | 7/16 | |
| Converted % | 50% | 40% | 44% | |
| Conceded | 1 | 4 | 5 | |
| Saved | 1/1 | 4/4 | 5 | |
| Saved % | 100% | 100% | 100% | |
| Times Broken | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Upcoming matches in the draw
- Marco CecchinatoCecchinato – Max HoukesHoukes (0-0) – H2H and prediction