Barcelona 2023: Davidovich Fokina vs Etcheverry Tennis Prediction

TennisSection previews the 2023 Barcelona Open second-round match featuring Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs Tomas Martin Etcheverry on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.

Davidovich Fokina vs Etcheverry Match Preview and Prediction

10th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina will need to navigate the challenge of Argentina’s new star Tomas Martin Etcheverry at the Barcelona Open. Will ”Foki” prevail?

With just one win in four matches, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina has plummetted to 38th in the world rankings. The 600 points he accrued in Monte Carlo last year have fallen off after losing in the first round this past week. While his recent results sound alarming, you cannot really point a finger and say it was all on his racket. Apart from the Cecchinato defeat in Estoril, seven of his 10 defeats this year have come against top 20 players including Daniil Medvedev (twice), Andrey Rublev, and Tommy Paul (twice). Let’s see if can amend that record at the Barcelona Open against Tomas Martin Etcheverry.

Tomas Martin Etcheverry, for his part, won his opener against wild card Pablo Andujar. The 37-year-old was playing at the Barcelona Open for the last time and he did enjoy those final few moments in the second set, pushing the Argentine into errors and even served for the set at 5-4, but ended up losing in straight sets.

Davidovich Fokina vs Etcheverry Prediction and Pick

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Tomas Martin Etcheverry have not played each other on the ATP Tour, with this second-round match at the Barcelona Open being their first official meeting. Etcheverry will need to play a lot better than he did against Andujar. His second serve in particular looked dodgy, registering four double faults and giving away as many as 12 break points. Davidovich Fokina is in dire need of wins here and that makes him dangerous coming into this match. On paper, the Spaniard is the clear favorite, but recent form means he’ll not get an easy W.