Sebastian Baez vs Luca Van Assche Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Mutua Madrid Open

Prediction published on 25/04/2024, 12:54  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 25/04/2024 at 13:55 in ATP Mutua Madrid Open Predictions

Sebastian Baez has already won two clay court titles this year. The 18th seed takes on unseeded Luca van Assche in round two of the Madrid Masters. A win takes the victor into the last 32 and a match against either 12th seed Taylor Fritz or unseeded Luciano Darderi. Baez is 18th in the live rankings but four places higher in the ATP Race. The Argentinian had a February to remember as he won successive clay court tournaments in Rio and Santiago. Before that he got to the last four in Cordoba and quarter-finals in Buenos Aires. It's not gone so well on the European clay court swing. He's lost both of his matches played in Monte Carlo and Barcelona. Both losses were to top 40 ranked players including Jan-Lennard Struff who's since won the BMW Open.

Luis van Assche is up to 95th in the live rankings after beating wild card Zizou Bergs in round one. He had to go to three sets after losing the middle one on a tie-break. The Frenchman recovered well to win the final set for the loss of only one game. He's had mixed results so far in the three clay court tournaments he's played this year. After first round exits in Marrakech and Monte Carlo, he finally got a win in Barcelona with a victory over Zhihzen Zhang. Round two saw him face Fabian Marozsan and the first set was lost without him winning a game. Van Assche then retired in the second set when 3-2 down. We tip Baez to win this match.