Day 2 at the ATP Paris Masters indoor event includes talented 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz looking to back up his great semifinal in Vienna last week alongside top ten player Casper Ruud looking for his first Masters title of his young career.
ATP Paris Masters Day 2 Predictions
James Duckworth vs Roberto Bautista-Agut
Head-to-head: 0-0
To say 2021 has been a disaster for Bautista-Agut wouldn’t exactly be a lie. Not only have the results been bad throughout, but the performances have a lot to desire as well. Admittedly, the Spaniard is now 33 years old, so perhaps with such a physical style it was only a matter of time before this happened. Thankfully for him, Duckworth has lost four of his last five matches with just the one set won in those losses. As bad as Bautista-Agut has been this year, this is one match he still shouldn’t be losing.
Prediction: Bautista-Agut in 3
John Millman vs Diego Schwartzman
Head-to-head: 1-1
It’s hard to know where to begin with Diego Schwartzman lately. For all the good tennis–and there’s been a fair amount of it–there’s also been some completely shocking performances to go along with them. In a matchup like this, though, Millman plays in a similar sense. Both move extremely well, can outlast players and know when to turn on the aggression once the court opens up. Schwartzman simply does almost every area of the game better, though, which is why bar an awful performance from the Argentine or the Aussie playing tennis out of this world, it’s hard to see anything but a Schwartzman win.
Prediction: Schwartzman in 2
Casper Ruud vs Alexander Bublik
Head-to-head: Ruud 2-0
Bublik mounted an impressive comeback against Dan Evans on Monday afternoon to make the second round, but unfortunately for him things don’t get any easier with co-leading 2021 title winner Ruud awaiting in the second round. For all the weapons the Kazakh possesses, they should be most dangerous on a court such as here in Paris where his serve and big groundstrokes are rewarded. We all know Ruud prefers slower courts but in the last few months he’s shown he can be more aggressive and up the speed on the serve when playing on this surface to make him more dangerous. Just given how good Ruud has been in 2021 altogether, you would expect him to have a fairly good run here and potentially make the ATP Tour Finals in Turin.
Prediction: Ruud in 2
Pierre-Hugues Herbert vs Carlos Alcaraz
Head-to-head: 0-0
On the main tour, Herbert has not only heavily slipped down the ranking and is barely is the top 100 now but he’s not won back-to-back matches since March. Alcaraz, on the other hand, is coming into Paris after an amazing semifinal run last week in Vienna, where he beat former World #1 Andy Murray and current #7 Matteo Berrettini. Off the ground the Spaniard will no doubt destroy the Frenchman, so if it is going to be even remotely competitive the Frenchman is going to have to serve out of his mind which is heavily unlikely.
Prediction: Alcaraz in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
