TennisSection previews the 2021 Andalucia Open as Pablo Carreno Busta (1) meets Mario Vilella Martinez in the Round of 16 on Wednesday April 7thth, 2021.
An “All-Spanish” affair awaits us in the Round of 16 at the 2021 Andalucia Open. Top seeded Pablo Carreno Busta will face lesser known countryman Mario Vilella Martinez in what seems to be a mismatch on paper. Will the title favorite cruise to an expected victory? Or can Vilella Martinez cause what would be one of the biggest upsets of the year?
Pablo Carreno Busta is currently ranked #15 in the ATP world rankings and has been a staple of the top 20 for quite some time. An extremely solid baseliner with penetrating groundstrokes, he is the favorite to lift the trophy here in Marbella. It has been a disappointing season by his lofty standards in 2021 thus far, and this will be his first clay court match of the year. He has been handed a favorable draw here at the 2021 Andalucia Open and will be hoping to kick-start his season here with a comprehensive win over Mario Vilella Martinez. While he is more known for his hard court prowess, he has reached four ATP Finals on clay; however he has only won one of them. Pablo Carreno Busta will have the support of the home crowd here and is expected to move on easily.
Mario Vilella Martinez is a bit of an unknown quantity on the ATP Tour. At 25 years old, he has never won an ATP main draw match on clay, but comfortably defeated Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-2, 6-3 in the First Round here at the 2021 Andalucia Open. Mainly plying his trade on the Challenger Circuit, he has had a decent year, winning two rounds at the Great Ocean Road Open in Australia in January, winning his first two ATP matches in the process. He is a typical clay court player who is solid from the baseline, with an especially strong forehand. Martinez also moves very well on the surface and will be full of confidence after his First Round win. However, he has not faced someone quite like Pablo Carreno Busta so far this year and enters this match as a massive underdog.
The two men have never faced each other before on the ATP Tour, and their head to head record stands at 0-0. However, they met once before at a Qualifying event in Valencia and Pablo Carreno-Busta won that one easily. There will be only one outcome here in this match, and it will be a very comfortable straight sets win for Pablo Carreno-Busta. Mario Vilella Martinez has had a solid year so far but he is simply no match for his countryman here, who will dominate this match from the baseline. Pablo Carreno-Busta will surely win here and advance to the Quarter-Finals of the 2021 Andalucia Open.
Free Tennis Pick and Prediction: Pablo Carreno-Busta to win in straight sets.
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