The Ro32 of the 2024 Barcelona continues on Wednesday with Karan Khachanov taking on Roberto Bautista Agut and Stefanos Tsitsipas face Sebastian Ofner. Damien Kayat previews these two games.
2024 ATP Tour – ATP 500
Barcelona Open
Real Club de Tenis Barcelona
Selected Round of 32 Matches – 17 April 2024
Karen Khachanov 49/100 | Roberto Bautista Agut 31/20
Karen Khachanov started the clay-court swing positively, beating Daniil Medvedev en route to a solid quarter-final finish in Monte-Carlo. It was his second ATP Masters 1000 clay-court quarter-final and it should give him some real confidence going into this intense portion of the season.
Khachanov tends to hit the ball pretty flat and sometimes lacks the variety to really make a dent on clay. In fact, the six-time ATP winner is still yet to reach a clay-court final in his career. But he is an indefatigable worker, harnessing that amazing athleticism to reach two French Open quarter-finals in his career.
Khachanov won his sixth title in Qatar earlier this year and he will be desperate to return to the type of form that saw him reach back-to-back Grand Slam semi-finals just a few years back.
You have to admire the durability and competitive spirit of 36-year-old Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut. He is clearly in the twilight of his career but he still leaves it all out there. He looked quite impressive in his opener against Safiullin, wielding that powerful forehand to excellent effect to take down the awkward Russian.
I hadn’t watched the veteran Spaniard in some time and was a little shocked by how delayed his grunts are (they almost seem to come just before his opponent is preparing to make his shot). In any event, Bautista Agut is going to have his work cut out here against Khachanov.
Khachanov actually reminds me of prime Bautista Agut, hanging in long rallies and using his forehand to dictate the flow of points. You see, Bautista Agut isn’t your prototypical Spanish clay-court player. He doesn’t generate much topspin on that forehand and he- like Khachanov- tends to hit the ball pretty flat.
Verdict: Khachanov to win in straight sets 5/4
Bautista Agut leads the head-to-head 6-4. Khachanov actually won their first career meeting in Barcelona. The Russian eased past the Spaniard when they met in Marseille earlier this season but he did need three sets to get the job done in Madrid last year.
This is going to be a match that features plenty of 20+ shot rallies. Both players relish protracted baseline exchanges and can become a bit one-dimensional on this surface. I think the Russian’s youth and physical vigour will give him a massive edge. I can see him prevailing in a tight straight-sets win.
Stefanos Tsitsipas 1/16 | Sebastian Ofner 7/1
What a magnificent way for Tsitsipas to silence his critics. Tsitsipas won the Monte-Carlo Masters for the third time in his career, setting him up for what could be a brilliant clay-court season. And he really needed that.
He came off an extremely disappointing ‘Sunshine Double’ and he was yet to reach a final all season. Some- myself included- had wondered whether the emergence of the likes of Alcaraz and Sinner meant that his time in the upper echelons of the game was coming to an end.
But the fleet-footed Tsitsipas looked absolutely radiant in the principality, overcoming current wunderkind Jannik Sinner in a classic semi-final. He then diffused the resurgent Casper Rudd in straight sets and I really feel like the Greek is poised for an excellent mid-season run.
It also helps that he is a perennial contender in Barcelona, finishing runner-up here on three previous occasions. He lost convincingly to Alcaraz in last year’s final and perhaps this could be the season where he finally nabs this elusive title.
This is going to be an uphill task for Sebastian Ofner. The durable baseliner has actually made some decent strides over the past 18 months or so. He produced a real breakthrough performance in last year’s French Open, beating Seb Korda and Fabio Fognini en route to a maiden Grand Slam fourth round appearance (more on that later).
He also played some excellent clay-court tennis at the Challenger level last year, reaching four finals and winning a title. All of that contributed to him sneaking into the top 50 by the end of the season. And he briefly snuck into the top 40 after a solid semi-final run in Hong Kong earlier this season.
But his form has nosedived since then (he is 5-10 since his Hong Kong Open defeat). But he did thrash Dan Evans in Monte Carlo last week and he is off to a winning start in Barcelona, clawing his way back from behind against Kotov.
He will be pleased with the switch to clay but he will drastically need to elevate his level to be competitive in this match.
Verdict: Tsitsipas to win in straight sets 2/7
Tsitsipas won their only previous meeting, decisively ending the Austrian’s French Open run last season. I really tried to convince myself that Tsitsipas could be a bit jaded following his exertions in Monte-Carlo, etc.
But there is no other result here other than a straight-sets win for the Greek. He played some elite clay-court tennis last week and he could be a dark horse threat for the Roland Garros title.
