There is an exciting slate of second round ATP matches on Day 4 in Buenos Aires. Home fans will enjoy three of the four matches featuring Argentines including #4 seed Diego Schwarzman, and the always energetic crowds will be loudly rooting their home players to victory. The headliner will be former US Open champion and French Open finalist Dominic Thiem. Thiem is still trying to make it back to the top of the game and has not yet found his form, but he is still one of the most fun players to watch on tour. There is a full day of matches to decide the remaining four quarterfinalists, and all of them are predicted below.
ATP Buenos Aires Day 4
Jaume Munar vs Francisco Cerundolo
Head-to-head: 1-0 Cerundolo
Munar is happy to be back on clay where he had an excellent 2022. He lost his first three matches of the year on hard court before a straight set win in the first round here in Buenos Aires. Cerundolo had a much better start to the year, but pulled out of his second round match last week in Cordoba with a hamstring injury. He was able to enter the draw here but struggled in the first round against Yannick Hanfmann, a player he should have beaten more easily. Munar is a tricky opponent to play against and has the game to wear Cerundolo down and test him physically. Cerundolo is the better player but does not seem to be 100%. Munar is more than good enough to take advantage and if he plays like he did in round one, will be able to pull off the upset and make the quarterfinal.
Prediction: Munar in 3
Lorenzo Musetti vs Pedro Cachin
Head-to-head: First meeting
Cachin is a veteran clay court specialist who faces off against one of the most exciting young talents on tour in Musetti. Cachin has had a horrible start to the year, losing all five of his matches and managing to win just one set before his first round win here. Musetti played well at the United Cup but had to retire due to injury in his last match and has not played since the Australian Open. While he is a good hard court player, his talent really shines on the clay. He plays a similar game to Cachin but has much more firepower on his groundstrokes. Cachin has not shown much signs of promise at all recently, and Musetti is a great player who assuming that he is close to fully healthy will win easily.
Prediction: Musetti in 2
Diego Schwartzman vs Bernabe Zapata Miralles
Head-to-head: First meeting
This match features two players looking to improve their form with just two combined wins entering Buenos Aires. Schwartzman lost his first match on clay last week in Cordoba but will look to take the time off to lock back in. Zapata Miralles won a three set battle in the first round against a talented player in Pedro Martinez. He was broken eight times in the match which will be a problem against Schwartzman. The Argentine’s scrappy baseline play make him a threat to break every single service game. That will be the deciding factor as well as the crowd behind Schwartzman helping him get back into form. Schrwatzman is absolutely due and the matchup works well for him so he will battle through to victory.
Prediction: Schwartzman in 3
Dominic Thiem vs Juan Pablo Varillas
Head-to-head: 1-0 Thiem
While their career journeys have been quite different, this is the closest matchup in terms of ranking of the day. Thiem received a wild card into the event and is still a huge draw as a Major champion and former star while Varillas had to fight through qualifying to make the draw. The Austrian lost his first four matches of the year but finally got his first win in round one here over #7 seed Alex Molcan. Thiem won in straight sets in their one prior meeting last year on the clay in Gstaad. This is a great matchup for Thiem with his powerful strokes on both sides that Varillas simply does not have enough to match. Thiem is slowly building back and this will be a positive step in the right direction.
Prediction: Thiem in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
