ATP Barcelona 1/16-Finals
Nadal – de Minaur: 17.04.2024 16:00 CEST
H2H: 3-1
Rafael Nadal won his first match on the clay this season easily as we predicted. Flavio Cobolli did not have any chance against Nadal, and Nadal showed us yet again why he is the best clay court player of all time. He looked ready tonight, and we believe that he might be ready for the French Open for the one last time. Nadal offered only 2 break points and got broken only once in the match. Other than that, Nadal played well and has dominated from the very first point against Cobolli.
Alex de Minaur played his last match last week in the Monte Carlo quarterfinal against Djokovic. He lost in two tight sets as we predicted, but played overall a solid match. De Minaur has won three out of his last five matches. He did not have any remarkable success on the clay court throughout his career. Being an Australian, de Minaur grew up playing on the fast hard courts. It will be interesting to see him face Nadal on the clay for the first time in his career. De Minaur has played only one tournament on the clay court this season and that was last week in Monte Carlo.
Best Bet to Make
As we already said, Nadal is the best clay court player of all time. He looked well after being out for so long. The bookies are considering this one to be an even matchup. However, we believe that Nadal will only play better as the tournament progresses.
That being said, Nadal winning is a value bet.
Value bet/ the best odds: Rafael Nadal to win @2.00 @bet365
Thompson – Munar: 17.04.2024 12:30 CEST
H2H: 0-1
Jordan Thompson lost three out of his last five matches. The clay court part of the season is his least favorite, but he needs to play those tournaments if he wants to stay in the top 50. He did not win a single match last year on the clay court. This year, Thompson played at Houston on, the clay which is really fast. He reached the quarterfinal there, where he lost against Tiafoe in straight sets. Last time Thompson won a clay court match in Europe was three years ago, exactly here in Barcelona. We believe that he will have a hard time adapting to the surface.
Jaume Munar won in front of his own crowd in the first round against Nishioka today. He won 6-3 6-1 easily and played very well in this match. Munar has played 15 clay court matches already this season. He has a 9-6 winning record on the clay this season so far. He is looking to win a lot of points on this European clay court part of the season, and maybe even get into the top 50.
Best Bet to Make
Jaume Munar is a great clay court player. Jordan Thompson will have big problems against him, and we believe that he will have no chance. Munar will keep getting him into the long rallies and eventually win those rallies as well.
That being said, Munar to win in straight sets is a value bet.
Value bet/ the best odds: Munar to win 2-0 @1.91
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
