Juan Monaco will be back in action for the first time since August when he takes the court in Buenos Aires on Tuesday against Marco Cecchinato. Dominic Thiem and Pablo Carreno Busta are also kicking off their weeks.
Pablo Carreno Busta vs. (5) Dominic Thiem
Thiem and Carreno Busta will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers at the ATP level when they collide in round one of the Argentina Open on Tuesday. Their only previous meeting on the main circuit came last summer on the clay courts of Gstaad, where Thiem prevailed 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. They had previously split a pair of lower-level encounters, with Thiem winning a Futures match in 2012 before Carreno Busta came out on top in a Challenger date one year later (both on clay).
Clay is obviously the surface on which Carreno Busta would choose to go up against his Austrian adversary. In line with the story of his career, the 64th-ranked Spaniard went winless in two hard-court tournaments last month before picking up the pace last week in Quito and reaching the quarterfinals. The problem for Carreno Busta is that even though Thiem is an all-court player, the dirt may also be his favorite surface. All four of the 22-year-old’s ATP finals have come at 250-point tournaments on outdoor clay and he went 3-0 in finals last season. Still in fine form, Thiem is showing no sign of losing early in Buenos Aires.
Pick: Thiem in 2
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(Q) Marco Cecchinato vs. Juan Monaco
Due to a wrist injury, Monaco has not played since retiring from a first-round match on the clay courts of Kitzbuhel last summer. Nonetheless, the 31-year-old Argentine still registers at a decent 55th in the world thanks to a run of success in the winter and spring of 2015. He finished runner-up to Rafael Nadal at this same Buenos Aires event, reached the third round in Indian Wells, and made a surprise appearance in the Miami quarterfinals.
Monaco will make his return in the form of a first-ever meeting with Cecchinato. Whereas his opponent has not played a match in more than six months, Cecchinato has already taken the court twice this week. Seeded first in qualifying, the 92nd-ranked Italian took care of his two matches without any trouble to book a spot in the main draw. Although this is a decent draw for Monaco (until the winner plays Nadal in round two), he is extremely rusty and asking him to beat a solid clay-courter who is match-tough at the moment may be too much.
Pick: Cecchinato in 3
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