Pablo Carreño-Busta vs Jordan Thompson Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Mallorca Open

Prediction published on 23/06/2021, 18:13  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 23/06/2021 at 19:13 in Tennis Predictions

Fourth seeded Pablo Carreno Busta bids to reach the last four of the Mallorca Open. The Spaniard faces Jordan Thompson, with the winner facing either top seeded Daniil Medvedev or Casper Ruud in the semi-final of this grass court tournament. Busta is the world number 13 and has had a successful year but hasn't got the best of records on grass courts. He did get to the semi-finals of a Turkish tournament two years ago but didn't beat any players of note. Wimbledon hasn't been that good a hunting ground for him and he's never got past the second round. In four visits to Wimbledon, three have ended with a loss in the first round, so he'll hope to do a lot better than that this year. Busta has had success in tournaments played in his homeland this year. He won a clay court tournament in Marbella and got to the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open. In Mallorca this week, he received a first round bye and then defeated Jiri Vesely in round two, winning 6-4 6-4.

Jordan Thompson is ranked 76th in the world but that's a decent way below his best ever of 43rd two years ago. He's down to 78 in the live rankings but a win here will take him up to 72nd. Thompson had a 2021 record of 8-11 before the start of this event. His year began well in his native Australia, reaching the last eight in a Melbourne tournament. It went a bit downhill after that with one win in his next three tournaments. His form improved on clay with a win over Benoit Paire in Monte Carlo before losing to Fabio Fognini in the last 32. He also lost to Busta in Barcelona winning just four games and none in the second set, that's their only previous meeting. That was  the first of five straight losses. A low point was being beaten by the world 331 Nuno Borges in Estoril. His grass court season began in Stuttgart beating Guido Pella before losing in three sets to Alex de Minaur. He also won one match in Halle but then lost in straight sets to Andrey Rublev. This week has gone better with wins over Pablo Andujar (after losing the first set) and Lukas Klein in straight sets. It's the first time since January that he's won two matches in a tournament.  He reached the final in Surbiton four years ago  and another in Turkey two years ago, but has never got past the first round at Wimbledon.  Back Busta to get the win here.