Some of the third round action at the 2023 ATP Barcelona Open will see Carlos Alcaraz take on Roberto Bautista Agut and Casper Ruud play Francisco Cerundolo . Get the live streaming options along the predictions, preview and head to head for these matches along with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina v Emil Ruusuvuori and Karen Khachanov v Dan Evans.
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Carlos Alcaraz v Roberto Bautista Agut Preview
Carlos Alcaraz began his title defence in Barcelona with a straight sets drubbing of Portugal’s Nuno Borges in the second round on Wednesday. The top seed Spaniard, who had beaten Pablo Carreno Busta for the title last year, needed just 64 minutes to beat the Portuguese 6-3, 6-1.
Alcaraz was broken once in the match, but the 19-year-old world no. 2 was dominant on his serve, dropping just 13 points on his serve over the course of two sets. Alcaraz, meanwhile, had 7 breaking chances in the match and he converted 5 of them.
Alcaraz improved his season record to 19-2. He won the titles in Buenos Aires and Indian Wells and finished runner-up in Rio. The only time the eight-time champion didn’t reach a final this year, it was in Miami, where he went down to Jannik Sinner in the semifinals.
Alcaraz will be hoping to reach a fifth consecutive quarterfinal this year when he takes on Roberto Bautista Agut on Thursday. The latter reached the third round with a straight sets thrashing of Bernabe Zapata Miralles in the second round on Tuesday.
Seeded no. 13 Bautista Agut converted 5 of 9 break points and saved 1 of 2 to win the 61 minute contest 6-2, 6-2 and improve to 10-10 in 2023.
He is looking to reach the quarterfinals in Barcelona for the third time, but will have his task cut out against the top seed, who beat him in straight sets in their only meeting in Indian Wells last year.
Carlos Alcaraz v Roberto Bautista Agut Tip
Alcaraz to win in straight sets: 4/11 (bet365)
Casper Ruud v Francisco Cerundolo Preview
Third seed Casper Ruud ousted up-and-coming American Ben Shelton in straight sets in the second round on Tuesday. It was a tale of two sets with the Norwegian dominating the first and then holding off the determined world no. 37 in the second set to register a 6-2, 7-6 (7-1) victory in an hour and 38 minutes.
Ruud, who struggled to win consecutive matches in any of the hard court tournaments in the first quarter, has found form on clay, his favourite surface. He won the Estoril Open two weeks ago for his 10th career title and ninth on clay. The world no. 3 will be aiming to reach a second quarterfinal of the season and a second straight quarterfinal in Barcelona with a win over Francisco Cerundolo on Thursday.
Against the Argentine, Ruud has a 1-1 record. He won in the Miami semifinal last year, while Cerundolo won their only meeting on clay in Bastad in 2022.
Seeded no. 15, Cerundolo made it to the third round in Barcelona with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Italy’s Francesco Passaro in the second round on Wednesday. The world no. 32 Cerundolo saved all three of the break points that he faced in the match and converted four of nine to beat the world no. 125 in just 69 minutes.
Cerundolo has improved his season record to 13-10. This is his first appearance in Barcelona and if he does reach the last eight, it would be his fourth quarterfinal appearance this year, following Cordoba, Buenos Aires and Miami.
Casper Ruud v Francisco Cerundolo Tip
Ruud seems to be back in his elements and he is expected to win the contest: 2/5 (bet365)
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Alejandro Davidovich Fokina v Emil Ruusuvuori Preview
No. 10 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain defeated Tomás Martín Etcheverry 6-3, 6-3 to register his first win in Barcelona.
The 23-year-old Spaniard, who lost in the opening round on his debut in 2021, saved 2 of the 3 break points that he faced against the Argentine and converted half of the eight break points that he held to win the second round contest in an hour and 32 minutes.
Following the victory, Daviovich Fokina is now 13-10 for the season. He is aiming to reach a fifth quarterfinal in 2023, having played in the last eight in Adelaide-2, Doha, Indian Wells and Estoril.
Facing the world no. 38 in the third round will be Emil Ruusuvuori, who edged past fifth seed Frances Tiafoe in a two-hour-and-48-minute contest. Ruusuvuori served 11 aces and saved 13 of 17 break points while he capitalised on 6 of 13 breaking opportunities to win the match 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4.
The Finn, who defeated Alexander Bublik 6-0, 6-3 in the first round, is into the round of 16 for the second straight year. He is 15-12 this season, including qualifiers and on Thursday will aim to reach a second quarterfinal of the year. he had earlier made the last eight in Miami.
They have met twice before with Davidovich Fokina winning their only tour level meeting in Cologne in 2020, while Rusuvuori winning their lower level matchup in Mallorca in 2019.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina v Emil Ruusuvuori Tip
Davidovich Fokina to win in three: 3/1 (bet365)
Karen Khachanov v Dan Evans Preview
Sixth seed Karen Khachanov made a strong start in Barcelona, ousting Nicolas Jarry 6-4, 6-4 in the second round on Wednesday.
The Russian got the sole break of the first set in the opening game. He also broke the Czech in the first game of the second set, but Jarry broke back only to see Khachanov break again in the set and win the match in an hour and 35 minutes.
Ranked no. 11 in the world, Khachanov is looking to reach the last eight in Barcelona for the second time, following his run in 2017. He has been in excellent form this year, reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open and the Miami Open. He was also a quarterfinalist in both the Adelaide events and made it to the round of 16 in. Monte-Carlo.
Facing Khachanov will be 12th seed Dan Evans who defeated Matteo Arnaldi 6-4, 6-3. The British player faced 10 break points in the match and he saved all 10 of them. Meanwhile, the 32-year-old held nine opportunities to break the Italian and he converted three of those chances to win in an hour and 49 minutes.
Evans has a perfect 3-0 record against Khachanov and will look to keep that intact on Thursday. He is not in the best of forms this year, winning just 6 of his 17 matches. However, he has shown decent form on clay, after a semifinal finish in Marrakech. But Khachanov is in better form and he could get his first win over Evans on Thursday.
Karen Khachanov v Dan Evans Tip
Khachanov to win: 1/4 (bet365)
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The 2023 Barcelona Open will be played from April . You can watch & bet on the these matches here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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