We take a look at the selected round of 32 matches from the ATP Tour’s Barcelona Open taking place at Real Club de Tennis on the 24th of April 2019.
2019 ATP Tour | ATP 500 Series
Barcelona Open | Real Club de Tennis, Barcelona
Selected Round of 32 Matches | 24 April 2019
Grigor Dimitrov (13/20)
vs Fernando Verdasco (23/20)
Everything seemed rosy for Grigor Dimitrov as 2017 reached its conclusion. He looked primed for the role of the natural usurper of tennis’ top three players, having won the ATP finals in grand fashion. His 2018 campaign began promisingly enough with a semi-final at Brisbane followed by yet another Aussie Open quarter-final appearance. Then a semi-final showing at Monte Carlo debunked the notion that he was purely a hardcourt specialist. But the rest of the season was something of a right off, with Dimitrov losing all traction in his quest for the possible World Number One spot. The likes of Alex Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas have soared past him in Grand Slam reckoning. His 2019 has been similarly poor, though a run to the final 16 in Monte Carlo last week perhaps offers some hope for hardcore fans of the Bulgarian powerhouse.
Veteran Spaniard Fernando Verdasco is an interesting outlier amongst Spanish tennis stars, blazing the way for current alumni Roberto Bautista Agut and Pablo Carreno Busta. He has always preferred the faster hard surfaces and everyone can remember that epic 2009 Aussie Open semi-final defeat to Rafael Nadal. Three semi-final appearances in the latter half of last season indicate his resilience. But a 4th round run at the French Open illustrates his ability to perform on clay, even at this advanced age. And let’s not forget that Verdasco is a former champion here, claiming the title in 2010, making him one of only two men – the other being Kei Nishikori – to taste success here outside of Rafa Nadal since 2005. He breezed past Feliciano Lopez in the opening round and will provide a stern test for the stern Dimitrov.
Verdasco actually enjoys a better head-to-head record than one may believe against Grigor Dimitrov. They share the spoils 3-3, with Verdasco actually leading the clay head-to-head 2-1. That includes an absolutely dominant straight sets victory in the 3rd round of Roland Garros last year. Back the Spaniard to come out on top.
Pablo Carreno Busta (39/20)
vs Benoit Paire (7/20)
2017 US Open semi-finalist Pablo Carreno Busta has been a metronomic competitor over the past few years, though it’s probably fair to say that he has evolved into a more competitive hardcourt player. It’s perhaps reflective of a necessary evolution given that most tournaments are played on the harder surfaces. Having said that, he has reached four clay-court finals, winning the Estoril Open in 2017. He also happened to reach the semi-finals here in one of his best results all season. He also reached the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati event prior to a semi-final at Winston-Salem. He began this season fairly well, losing in an absolute marathon five-setter against Kei Nishikori in the 4th Round in Melbourne. But his form has dissipated since then, which is also contributable to injury concerns.
The 29-year-old Frenchman Benoit Paire is the stereotypical enigmatic French player. He is wildly inconsistent but tends to often feature in shots of the year compilations. He seems to save his best form for the clay, reaching three ATP finals on the surface. He won the 2015 Swedish Open but more critically is coming off an astounding victory at the Grand Prix Hassan II. He only dropped two sets in that event and has followed that up with a straight-sets victory over Londero in the opening match. There may be some concerns that it will be an issue for the mercurial Paire to have a deep run back-to-back. Just earlier this season he flowed up a final appearance at the Challenger Marbella event with an opening round defeat at the Challenger event in Antipolis. So it’s always risky with Paire, but perhaps he’s worth a shot against his polar opposite – the stoically consistent Carreno Busta.
These two are far from strangers to one another. Benoit Paire actually leads the head-to-head 6-4, with the two sharing the clay-court spoils 3-3. They have actually played in Barcelona twice, each winning on one occasion. Having said that, Carreno Busta won easily last season and with a price of 39/20, looks a logical bet considering Paire’s up and down form.
