Nordea Open 2022: Roberto Bautista Agut vs. Dominic Thiem Tennis Pick and Prediction

TennisSection previews the 2022 Nordea Open as Roberto Bautista Agut takes on Dominic Thiem in the second round on Thursday, July 14th, 2022.

Roberto Bautista Agut and Dominic Thiem will meet in a blockbuster second-round match at the Nordea Open. The Spaniard will make his return to action after Covid-19 recovery. But will the veteran be in full throttle to tackle a fully charged up Thiem?

Roberto Bautista Agut’s Wimbledon journey came to a screeching halt. The Spaniard was imperious in his opening match, taking down Attila Balazs for the loss of four games. He was expected to overwhelm the Colombian clay-courter Daniel Elahi Galan, but that was before he was among a few high profile names to pull out from the tournament due to a positive Covid-19 test. It was hammer blow for the 34-year-old who is former Wimbledon semifinalist, and had put himself in prime position to challenge again at the prestigious lawns of SW19. Bautstia Agut had reached the final of Mallorca prior to Wimbledon, scoring a win over the World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev in the process.

Dominic Thiem, meanwhile, secured his first ATP win of the year. It was symbolic of the kind of struggle it took him to finally get off to a winning start at the Nordea Open. Thiemclawed his way back from losing the first set to beat Emil Ruusuvuori 3-6 6-1 7-6. It was a major win for the Austrian, one which will surely reignite his season. Having suffered seven successive losses prior to last week, Thiem got his first win at the Salzburg Challenger, but was made to wait for his first tour-level win in more than a year.

Roberto Bautista Agut owns a commanding 4-1 lead over Dominic Thiem on the ATP Tour. The Spaniard seems to enjoy the upper hand in this match up, but it is pertinent to note that none of their previous five meetings were played on clay. Thiem’s confidence is clearly on the mend and while his game is a work in progress, he played superbly during the clutch moments in his match against Ruusuvuori. I honestly think Thiem has a chance here. His backhand is much improved from the French Open disaster against Dellien and is more proactive in rallies. Add to the fact that Bautista Agut is only just getting back from Covid recovery, and you sense that the former World No. 3 could secure another unlikely win.