Fifteenth seed Pablo Carreno Busta will face 18th seed Grigor Dimitrov in the third round of the Australian Open on Friday, February 12, with the timings yet to be decided. Get the live streaming options of this Pablo Carreno Busta v Grigor Dimitrov match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Pablo Carreno Busta v Grigor Dimitrov Head to Head
This will be the seventh meeting between the two 29-year-olds at the senior level, and both have won three matches apiece.
While Carreno Busta leads 3-1 head to head on clay, Dimitrov has won both their hard court matches. They also met once at a junior level in 2010, with Dimitrov winning the clay court contest. Quite interestingly all their matches so far have been straight set affairs.
Also Read:
Carreno Busta Fights off Vesely
Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta battled past Czech Republic’s Jiri Vesely in the second round of the Australian Open on Wednesday.
The Spaniard, ranked 16 in the world, got a couple of key breaks in the first and fourth sets to edge out the big-serving Czech 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 6-4 in two hours and 33 minutes.
Vesely struck 36 aces in the match against Carreno Busta’s three and also hit 63 winners to the Spaniard’s 46. But when it comes to unforced errors, Carreno Busta fared better, making just 22 of them compared to his opponent’s 33.
The tough second round win for Carreno Busta followed an equally tough first round victory against former World No. 4 Kei Nishikori on Monday.
The Spaniard needed two hours and 23 minutes to beat the Japanese 7-5, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 in the first round.
A four-time champion on the Tour, Carreno Busta came into the tournament with a 2-1 record at the ATP Cup. He also had a solid 2020 season, finishing with a 20-12 record, which included a run to the semifinal of the U.S. Open for the second time in his career.
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Dimitrov Eases Past Bolt
Facing Carreno Busta in the third round will be World No. 21 Grigor Dimitrov, who took an hour and 50 minutes on Wednesday to dispatch Aussie wild card Alex Bolt in the second round.
After winning the first set in a tiebreak, Dimitrov got into a good rhythm demolishing the 166th-ranked local player in the next two sets to take the match 7-6 (7-1), 6-1, 6-2.
The 18th seed Bulgarian struck 10 aces and won 81% of his first serves (47 of 58), while breaking the Aussie four times in the match. He also hit 26 winners and had just 18 unforced errors compared to his opponent’s 45.
On Monday, Dimitrov had begun his campaign on a solid note, defeating former World No. 3 Marin Cilic in straight sets.
The Bulgarian served out 19 aces, won 83% of his first serves, struck 34 winners and made just 19 unforced errors as he knocked Cilic out of the tournament with a 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) win in two hours and eight minutes.
A winner of eight ATP titles, which includes a win at the 2017 ATP Finals, Dimitrov has made a determined start. He has already featured in three Grand Slam semifinals previously and will be aiming for another one in Melbourne this year, but faces a tough road ahead, with Carreno Busta next, and a potential fourth round against third seed Dominic Thiem, who faces Nick Kyrgios in the third round.
Carreno Busta v Dimitrov Prediction and Tip
It’s going to be a close contest between two evenly matched players. But Dimitrov will have slight edge going into this, because he has more experience and has better results on hard courts. Also, he seems to be in better rhythm, as he won both the first two matches convincingly. Dimitrov could win this in either four or five sets.
Tip: Dimitrov to win: 8/11 (bet365)
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The 2021 Australian Open will be played from February 8 to 21. You can watch & bet on the these matches here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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