ATP Masters in Madrid, 2nd Round, Tuesday, 03.05.2022
A Spanish Champion in Madrid? Fans in the capital would like nothing more than that, and who better than prodigy Carlos Alcaraz? It wouldn’t be the first Masters in his homeland to go to him!
Admittedly, he has already had a few wobbles this year, but at the age of 18 you can forgive him for that. Now he is entering the tournament at the Madrid Open. Read in my Bassilashvili Alcaraz tip why the opener could be quite interesting!
Two Spaniards at the top, better still in the final? If we look at the list of favourites for the Masters in Madrid, Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz are together at the top. Will the much younger of the two give himself a birthday present?
Alcaraz turns 19 on Thursday and wants to celebrate his birthday on the court, of course. His entry into the tournament will be against Nikolos Bassilashvili. Although his opponent is by no means a bad guy with a ranking of 27th, the roles of favourites are crystal clear.
One thing is certain: this year could be even more successful than it already is. At just 18 years of age, the Spaniard has secured three titles, beats the big names and has now reached the Top 10 himself.
Nevertheless, his latest performances have been somewhat curious. In Miami, he won the Masters with a final victory over Casper Ruud, but a little later in Monte Carlo, he was eliminated right at the start against Sebastian Korda.
Was it fatigue? It didn’t take long before Alcaraz pulled off the next trick. Once again, he was no match for anyone in Barcelona, and in the end he won an outright final victory over Pablo Carreno Busta.
On clay against Nikolos Bassilashvili, that had already happened last year at the French Open. Alcaraz’s 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 was relatively clear, this time two sets won would be enough for him.
How exactly the Georgian will be is relatively difficult to assess. In contrast to Alcaraz, he has already entered the tournament and did so with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Fabio Fognini. However, his year 2022 has not yet been really successful.
In Qatar, he played his way into the final, but didn’t have much competition either. Since then, he has bumbled from tournament to tournament for weeks without winning a single match.
He did manage to do so at the recent BMW Open in Munich, but as soon as the second duel was on the agenda, it was already the end of the line against Miomir Kecmanovic. This form should hardly frighten Alcaraz.
Added to this is the fact that Bassilashvili has never made it past the first round in Madrid. Meeting the big tournament favourite right away is not likely to be an advantage at all.
My Bassilashvili Alcaraz Tip
Carlos Alcaraz is one of the very big favourites in the Spanish capital. In 2022, he succeeds in almost everything, but I could also see him being eliminated in Round 1 only once after winning the tournament before last.
Nikolos Bassilashvili didn’t look like he could be the big favourite. Madrid doesn’t suit him, he’s been eliminated early for months. In this respect, I can only come to the following tip:
We see less than 21.5 Games!
