Two of last week’s champions, Alexander Zverev and Pablo Carreno Busta, will be back in action at the Madrid Masters on Tuesday. Zverev is going up against Fernando Verdasco, while Carreno Busta is facing Benoit Paire.
Alexander Zverev vs. Fernando Verdasco
Zverev and Verdasco will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers when they collide in round one of the Mutua Madrid Open on Tuesday. Their only previous encounter came on the indoor hard courts of Metz in 2015, when Verdasco got the job done 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-3. Fast forward two years and Zverev is obviously a much different opponent at this point in time. The 20-year-old German owns three ATP titles after lifting another trophy just last week on the clay courts of Munich. Zverev is now 18-8 this season and 7-2 on the red stuff, with one of those two losses coming to eventual Barcelona champion Rafael Nadal.
Verdasco is a modest 13-9 in 2017 and his clay-court swing is off to an unspectacular start. The 35th-ranked Spaniard got blown out by Steve Johnson 6-2, 6-4 in the Houston quarterfinals and fell to Laslo Djere 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 at the same stage in Budapest. A considerable edge in current form goes to Zverev, who is making a quick turnaround following a long week in Munich but was forced to play only one three-setter en route to the title.
Pick: Zverev in 3
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Benoit Paire vs. Pablo Carreno Busta
Like Zverev, Carreno Busta also captured the third title of his career on Sunday. The 18th-ranked Spaniard won four consecutive matches in straight sets (over Tommy Robredo, Nicolas Almagro, David Ferrer, and Gilles Muller) to lift the Estoril trophy and improve to 22-11 in 2017. His season also includes a runner-up performance on the red clay of Rio de Janeiro and a semifinal showing in Indian Wells.
Up first for Carreno Busta on Tuesday is a fifth career showdown against Paire. The head-to-head series is all tied up at two wins apiece and 1-1 on clay. They most recently faced each other last spring in Estoril, where Carreno Busta cruised 6-3, 6-3. Paire has played just about every single week this year and has a mediocre 14-13 record at the ATP level to show for his efforts. The 52nd-ranked Frenchman is 1-4 in his last five matches dating back to the Marrakech semifinals and he is coming off a 6-3, 6-2 setback against Nicolas Almagro in the Estoril first round. As if Carreno Busta needs any help at the moment, he will get it from the Spanish crowd and should coast into the last 32.
Pick: Carreno Busta in 2
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