Gijon Open 2022: Pablo Carreno Busta vs. Arthur Rinderknech Tennis Pick and Prediction

TennisSection previews the 2022 Gijon Open as Pablo Carreno Busta takes on Arthur Rinderknech in the quarterfinal on Friday, October 14th, 2022.

Pablo Carrreno Busta is making a late bid to reach the season-ending championships in Turin. The Spaniard will need to go a winning spree between now and the start of next month to do the unthinkable. But first things first, he will need to take care of business against the high-flying Arthur Rinderknech at the Gijon Open. Who will reach the last four?

Pablo Carreno Busta got his Gijon Open campaign up and running with an excellent win over Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro. The left hander from Fortaleza had upset Benjamin Bonzi in his opening match, and Busta was well aware of Monteiro’s array of angled shots and repertoire. The Spaniard himself was in the mood right from the off. Carreno Busta fired 13 aces and landed 75% of his first serves. Having lost to Marc-Andrea Huesler in Sofia, he was bound to tick off that defeat pretty quickly. He duly delivered on all fronts as he scored his first win of the indoor season.

Arthur Rinderknech’s career-best season continues to go from strength to strength as he reached another ATP quarterfinal at the Gijon Open. The Frenchman eased past countryman Constant Lestienne to pick up his sixth win in eight matches on indoor hard courts. Rinderknech saved all six break points on his serve as he won 6-4 6-2 to progress.

Pablo Carreno Busta and Arthur Rinderknech have not crossed paths on the ATP Tour. Friday’s match at the Gijon Open will be their first official meeting. Both players were thoroughly dominant on serve in their previous match, with Rinderknechperhaps the more impressive. The Frenchman has a pacey first serve and can unfurl some crisp hitting from the baseline particularly on his forehand wing. Rinderknech’s net game is also improving rapidly having learned a great deal from Nicolas Mahut at the Davis Cup while teaming up together. I still expect Carreno Busta to have the upper hand in baseline rallies. The Spaniard is like a brick wall and the ability to squeeze out an extra shot from his opponent’s racket could draw an error too many here.