The third round of the 2022 ATP National Bank Open in Montreal is simply full of cracking matchups. In most of the matches, it’s simply extremely hard to predict the winner. We also predict the rest of the day’s matches in a separate article. Who do you think will have the upper hand?
ATP Montreal Day 4 Predictions
Tommy Paul vs Marin Cilic
Head-to-head: Cilic 2-0
Tommy Paul saved a match point to throw the second seed, Carlos Alcaraz, out of the tournament on Wednesday. The American is eyeing a big hard court season but was very unlucky to draw Nick Kyrgios right off the bat in Washington. Meanwhile, this is Marin Cilic’s first tournament since having to withdraw from Wimbledon due to catching COVID-19. So far, he’s managed to defeat Borna Coric and Karen Khachanov in two identical 6-3 6-2 scorelines. It was a display of strength and while Paul’s footwork and big assets from the ground can put pressure on him, it’s the Croat who’s got the higher ceiling and should be dictating the proceedings.
Prediction: Cilic in 3
Jannik Sinner vs Pablo Carreno Busta
Head-to-head: 1-1
The two have already faced in 2022 with Pablo Carreno Busta missing match points in two separate sets (five in total) at Miami. Jannik Sinner has been pretty amazing of late, making the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and winning the title in Umag. His first match here was a bit of a mess though as he struggled to beat the ever-tricky Adrian Mannarino. He’ll probably improve as the week goes on and he shakes off the hard-court rust. However, Pablo Carreno Busta has already proven he’s not far off the Italian on hard courts and completely dismantled his first two opponents. And they weren’t pushovers – Matteo Berrettini and Holger Rune.
Prediction: Carreno Busta in 3
Casper Ruud vs Roberto Bautista Agut
Head-to-head: Bautista Agut 2-0
Roberto Bautista Agut is coming into this match on a six-match winning streak, but the quality of the opposition faced with be upped by a lot. The Spaniard has mostly produced the goods in ATP 250 events this year and is still waiting for a bigger run. He also defeated Casper Ruud in their only hard court meeting at the ATP Cup earlier in 2022. The Norwegian has done a very fine job at upping his hard-court game and the topspin forehand can be a force on a good day. This will be his best chance at taking down Bautista Agut thus far.
Prediction: Ruud in 3
Nick Kyrgios vs Alex de Minaur
Head-to-head: First meeting
It was arguable until fairly recently, but now it’s pretty clear that this has been the best (and especially most consistent) season Nick Kyrgios has ever had on the tour. The Australian is at a ridiculous 29-7 for the year with eight of these wins coming across the past week and a half. That includes a second-round win over the World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev here, another incredible showing in a year full of them. Alex de Minaur can take it to Kyrgios with his still improving serve and incredible footspeed, especially if the 27-year-old will be starting to feel the accumulated fatigue from his Washington run. Going against Kyrgios in this form is an idea I’m not a fan of though.
Prediction: Kyrgios in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
