Pablo Carreño-Busta vs Jiri Vesely Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Mallorca Open

Prediction published on 22/06/2021, 07:36  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 22/06/2021 at 09:23 in Tennis Predictions

Fourth seeded Pablo Carreno Busta takes on Jiri Vesely in the second round of the Mallorca Open. Busta is the current world number 13 but a good run this week could see him climb above Denis Shapovalov into 12th. In terms of ranking points earned this year, Busta is in 19th place. Busta will be out to get some wins under his belt on grass in the lead up to Wimbledon. He's never made it past the second round there with three first round defeats in four appearances. 2019 saw him get through to the last four of a grass court tournament in Turkey but he didn't beat any top 100 ranked players. This year has seen him have some success in his home country winning the Marbella clay court tournament. He also made it to the semi-finals in Barcelona with a win over Diego Schwartzmann before being beaten by Rafael Nadal. His last tournament was Roland Garros where he lost in straight sets in the last sixteen to Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets.

Jiri Vesely is ranked 71st in the world and for points earned in 2021 is 140th so he's not having the greatest of years. It didn't get off to a bad start though with a run to the last eight of a tournament in Melbourne, including a win over Casper Ruud. Vesely won his first match at the Australian Open but then took on his opponent in this match and lost in four sets.  He's only won three matches in his last eight tournaments and lost in the first round to Karen Khachanov at Roland Garros, winning only six games in three sets. The grass court season may see some improvement though. He's made it to the fourth round at Wimbledon twice in the past, the most recent being in 2018. The first round of this tournament saw him beat world number 97 Salvatore Caruso in straight sets. Busta is the favourite here and has shown better form this year, back him to win but not too high a stake on this surface.