Carlos Alcaraz vs Nuno Borges Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Barcelona

Prediction published on 17/04/2023, 22:34  by Kennedy Kechula in Tennis Predictions

Top seed Carlos Alcaraz will begin the defence of his Barcelona Open title on Tuesday when he faces off with the unseeded Nuno Borges in the second round. The match will be the first between the two players and will be played on an outdoor clay court. Advancing from this round will see the winner set up a third-round tie with either 13th seed Roberto Agut or his fellow unseeded Spanish compatriot Bernabe Zapata. Alcaraz won last year’s edition by beating compatriot Pablo Busta in straight sets. The win secured his third title of five won in 2022, a year that saw him have a meteoric rise to become the first-ever teenager in the Open Era to top the men’s world ranking. He has since dropped to second in the rankings after having a belated start to the season but has nonetheless looked outstanding. He has won 18 of the 20 matches he has played thus far and with this has come two more career titles (Buenos Aires and Indian Wells). He has also made it to the final of the Rio Open and the semifinals in Miami. He will be disappointed that he was unable to defend his title in Miami and will want to make amends with this tournament in his native Spain.

Nuno Borges has also had an outstanding start to the season which has seen him rise from starting the year outside of the top 100 to breaking his career-high ranking of 80th when he was ranked number 63rd in the first week of April. This is as a result of his two title successes in Monterrey and Phoenix in the ATP Challenger tour. After disappointing outings in Miami and Estoril, the Portugal number one arrived in Barcelona ranked 79th in the world but his first-round win (straight sets) over Ilya Ivashka has boosted him up to number 71 in the live ranking. This is Borges’ debut in Barcelona and what way to make it more memorable than by defeating the defending champion? Clay counts as Borges’ favourite surface to play on so this is bound to make this an explosive second-rounder.