Monte-Carlo R2 previews and predictions: Nadal vs. Delbonis, Khachanov vs. Carreno Busta

Third-seeded Rafael Nadal makes his 2021 clay-court debut in Monte-Carlo on Wednesday against Federico Delbonis. Fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta, the No. 12 seed, takes on Russia’s Karen Khachanov.

(3) Rafael Nadal vs. (Q) Federico Delbonis

Rafael Nadal is probably not who Federico Delbonis wanted to see in the second round of the Monte-Carlo Masters. The two men have played four other times. Not only has Delbonis never taken a set off the King of Clay, and when they play on the dirt he struggles to win games. While this is Nadal’s first match on his best surface since his French Open title last October, it’s still Rafael Nadal and it’s still clay.

Nadal started his season with a back injury at the Australian Open, but despite that he managed to make his way to the quarterfinals–where he lost a tough five-setter to Stefanos Tsitsipas. Before this week’s event, the 20-time Grand Slam champion said of his injury, “It took some time to get back on court. I had to do some treatment at home that took a couple of weeks to be able to work the right way again. But, I am quite happy now…. I am playing well so I am happy with the way that I have arrived here.”

Delbonis sits at No. 87 in the world. The Argentine had a good result in Santiago a few weeks ago, when he reached the semifinals–but he didn’t beat a single player ranked inside the top 100. He did well to come up through qualies this week and then dispatch Adrian Mannarino in the first round. But this is obviously a whole different proposition.

Cheryl pick: Nadal in 2

Ricky pick: Nadal in 2

Karen Khachanov vs. (12) Pablo Carreno Busta

Spanish tennis players have historically been associated with clay-court tennis prowess…that association doesn’t really extend to Pablo Carreno Busta. It’s not that he has poor results on clay; he won the clay-court event in Marbella a few days ago. It’s just that he doesn’t necessarily play clay-court tennis so much as he mulishly applies his hard-court game to whatever surface he happens to be playing on–with varying degrees of success.

Russia’s Karen Khachanov has had a slightly disappointing 2021 so far. He started off strong, with a semifinal showing in one of the Australian Open warmup events; since then, though, he hasn’t won more than a couple of matches at a single tournament.

The two player have met on four other occasions; each has two wins. Carreno Busta won the pair’s only match on clay (in Monte-Carlo), but that was back in 2017 before Khachanov fully broke through. Carreno Busta played a lot of tennis last week, but he’s an exceptionally fit player and of the two he’s in better form. He should have enough in the tank for Khachanov.

Cheryl pick: Carreno Busta in 3

Ricky pick: Carreno Busta in 3