The first week of the clay-court swing will wrap up with finals in Cagliari and Marbella on Sunday. Lorenzo Sonego and Laslo Djere are squaring off in the former, while Pablo Carreno Busta and Jaume Munar are doing battle in the latter.
Sardegna Open: Laslo Djere vs. (3) Lorenzo Sonego
Sonego and Djere will be facing each other for the third time in their careers when they clash in the Cagliari final on Sunday. Their only previous clay-court encounter when Sonego’s way at the 2019 Marrakech event via a 6-3, 6-3 decision before Djere prevailed 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 last year on the hard courts of Doha.
Those results are somewhat surprising because Djere is actually more of a clay-court specialist than Sonego. Both of the 57th-ranked Serb’s titles have come on the slow stuff (2019 in Rio de Janeiro and 2020 in Sardinia). He is one win away from a third after taking out Federico Gaio, John Millman, Lorenzo Musetti, and Nikoloz Basilashvili. Djere has dropped only one set to Musetti and he lost just two total games against Basilashvili. Sonego is coming off defeats of Gilles Simon, Yannick Hanfmann, and Taylor Fritz–the last two of which were three-setters. Based on current form this week and the surface, Djere should have a slight edge.
Pick: Djere in 3
Andalucia Open: (1) Pablo Carreno Busta vs. Jaume Munar
It will be an all-Spanish affair in front of the home crowd in Marbella when Carreno Busta and Munar collide in the title match. Carreno Busta has played sparingly this season because of some physical issues, but it has become apparent that rust is not an issue. The world No. 15 has improved to 7-3 in 2021 with victories this week over Mario Vilella Martinez, Soonwoo Kwon, and Albert Ramos-Vinolas–the latter in a third-set tiebreaker.
Whereas Carreno Busta is 4-3 lifetime in ATP finals, this will be a completely new situation for Munar. The pressure is not necessarily on him as the underdog, but this is obviously a huge occasion in his career. Although the world No. 95 has done well to defeat Henri Laaksonen, Fabio Fognini, Ilya Ivashka, and Carlos Alcaraz, it has to be said that Carreno Busta represents a step up in competition. You have to like the veteran’s chances in this situation.
Pick: Carreno Busta in 3
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